After
by wolfraven80
Summary: AxH In so many stories, the curtain falls after the first kiss, the first touch, the first night together. But what happens in all the days... after?
1. Prologue: After

**A/N:** If you're looking for an action story I'd suggest you try Hunter Hunted as there won't be too much here. If you're looking for a story about how they got together, you might want to start with The Problem. This story follows on the heels of The Problem, but it isn't necessary to have read that story to understand this one. And now, with that out of the way, on with the show...

* * *

**Prologue: After**

Ear pressed against his chest, Holly listened as Artemis's heartbeat slowed from a rapid thrum to a steady pulse, like raindrops after a storm.

She glanced up the length of his body, that expanse of pale skin, towards his face. His eyes were closed and he looked blissfully relaxed, half dozing. One of his arms was stretched out to reach her, a hand cupping her face, his thumb stroking her cheek. This show of tenderness from him, barely conscious as he was, touched her deeply. Her chest constricted as, all at once, she was overwhelmed again by how much her Mud Boy meant to her.

She disentangled herself enough to crawl up closer to him and nestle into the crook of his arm. The links of the gold chain she wore around her neck clinked softly as she moved. As she cuddled closer to him, her copy of the Book slid against his bare skin. Smiling, she thought of how they'd undressed each other, of how his hand had shied away when it had brushed against her Book. An expert on the People's lore, Artemis knew that if he touched it without her permission it would combust. She had taken his hand and held it over the tiny book, his palm, resting between her breasts, over her heart.

His eyes flickered open and she found herself staring into those mismatched eyes. A sleepy smile formed on his lips before his eyelids drooped closed again.

Holly smiled and lay down to sleep. She had never wanted a normal, quiet life anyway.

**ooo**

It was still dark when he woke, and for some moments he lay still, absorbing every detail: the warmth of that small body curled next to him; the slow, even rhythm of her breaths; the scent of her hair. He turned and regarded her for a long while.

Artemis was by nature neither emotive nor demonstrative in his affections. That was not to say that he did not experience emotion: loss and joy affected him as powerfully as any other human being. Only they did not overrule his logic; they did not overpower his thought process, nor did he allow them to guide his decisions. Holly was another matter entirely. Elves were by nature highly emotional creatures. But perhaps that was for the best, for here they were.

She was so tiny. Now, watching her sleeping form in the half-light that slanted through the window, he was more aware of it than ever before. When she was awake, the forcefulness of her personality made her stand taller than her one hundred centimetres, but sleeping, she seemed fragile almost, a slight woman lying naked in his bed, her slender limbs as graceful as a gazelle's. A surge of protectiveness rose up in Artemis and his lips twitched at the absurdity of the instinct. It was she who had always protected him when Butler could not. And those limbs, while graceful, were wiry and muscular. Her whole body was muscle and sinew. And yet somehow her skin was soft to the touch, softer than he'd imagined it could be.

He felt a little foolish as a shudder ran down his spine. Sex was a powerful affect and for all his intellect, he was not immune. But it was more than simply the chemical soup in his brain that affected him thus. It was... Holly.

He smiled as he looked on her and the lines of a poem came to mind. "He woke and wondered more, for there she lay," Artemis whispered.

He'd never been a particular afficionado of Rosetti, but somehow the lines of "Nuptial Sleep" seemed fitting – even if no actual nuptials had been conducted. The wonder remained.

Sleep weighed on him, making his eyelids droop, but before he lay down again, he took one more long look at her. So much remained uncertain, and yet, as he watched Holly Short sleeping, her chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm, he found himself smiling.

They had been partners is so many adventures; he was glad they would be partners in this one as well.


	2. One: The Morning After

**One: The Morning After**

Though by now it would be dusk aboveground, here in Haven it was morning again–or what passed for morning when there was only the artificial light of the sun strips to mark it. The main thoroughfare was jammed with gnomes ambling along and sprites zipping overhead, one swooping low enough to ruffle the hair of a tall elf, almost causing an accident, and leaving behind him a string of cursing pedestrians. Their voices blended with the profanities from a cluster of swear toads.

Yet somehow, in spite of it all, Holly found herself grinning ear to ear.

Police Plaza was within sight when Holly realized people were staring. It wasn't normal for LEP officers to look so cheerful as they battled their way through morning foot traffic. In fact it was downright unnatural. And worrisome. Holly did her best to school her features before she unsettled anyone too much. It was not an easy task. She hadn't felt this good in ages, giddier than if she'd taken a happy-shot from one of the LEP psychiatrists. She resolved not to mention this to Artemis when she spoke to him after her shift; he was smug enough as it was.

Even the fleeting thought of Artemis set her heart thrumming. It was embarrassing really, but as she arrived at Police Plaza and made her way through the lobby, it was all she could do to avoid humming. But she'd been to the surface last night and it was only natural for her to be in a fair mood today, right? And if she strode towards her cubicle with a little more spring in her step than normal, it was just because yesterday had been a gloriously full moon. Surely no one would think anything of that.

"You're awfully chipper today."

Holly could feel herself flush. Was it _that_ obvious? "Good morning, Commander," she greeted Trouble Kelp.

"Have a good surface visit?"

"Yes," she replied, a little more quickly than she'd meant to. "Lovely. It was a Beltaine moon, you know." The moon's magic was stronger at the Equinox, known as Beltaine and Samhain in the old country.

"Oh I know," Trouble replied dourly.

She took a good look at him then, only now noticing the dark smudges beneath his eyes and the rumpled look of his uniform. "Have you been home yet, Commander?"

He shook his head. "No time. We had a dozen Retrieval teams up there in eight different times zones."

"It does get rather busy on a Beltaine full moon," Holly said, feeling a little guilty. She'd been ordered by the Council to check in on Artemis... but her orders hadn't covered the rest of the evening's activities. She did her best to blot out the memory of Artemis's skin, pale and warm to the touch, the curve of his shoulders, his spine beneath her fingertips – with very little success.

"Fowl didn't give you any trouble, did he?"

Holly felt her face flushing, but she managed to keep her tone perfectly even. "No. No trouble." A shiver ran down her spine as she remembered the touch of his lips, trailing along her skin.

"The Council's expecting your report in a couple of hours."

Now there was something to sour even the best of moods. "Yes, sir."

Trouble grinned. "Try not to sound so enthusiastic when you're in the Council room."

"I'll try to tone it down, Commander," she replied and then continued on her way to her cubicle.

She spared a few moments to glance through the pile of e-forms newly deposited on her desk and the messages waiting in her inbox, and then, with a deep breath, headed for the ops booth. Better to have this over with sooner rather than later.

She knocked on the ops booth security glass. A moment later Foaly's voice came through the intercom. "Sorry, Holly. Can't talk now. Terribly busy, you know."

"Foaly, you open this door, _right now_."

The ops booth was, of course, completely unassailable, but Foaly must have realized he would have to leave its safety eventually if he ever wanted to return home. That being the case, he opted to buzz Holly in.

"Holly," Foaly said, tail swishing frantically, almost knocking over an energy drink on his console. "Good to see you. That is..." She suppressed a groan as she noticed colour rising in the centaur's cheeks. Well that answered one question: he definitely had checked her helmet's cam feed last night.

"How much did you see?"

He opened his mouth as if about to protest but snapped it shut as she glowered at him. His eyes dropped. "Nothing adult-rated." Holly sighed with relief. Well there was that at least. "When I noticed your suit wasn't giving any readings I tried contacting you via your helmet and when that didn't work I got worried and checked the camera feed. All standard procedure."

She should have thrown something over the helmet – Artemis's shirt maybe – but she'd still have had to explain the lack of readings from her suit. Equipment malfunction? That would only work once. And she had every intention of taking that suit off the next time she had the chance to visit the surface; there was certainly nothing malfunctioning with Artemis's equipment.

"I hope you're not going to smile like that when you make your report to the Council," Foaly said, interrupting her thoughts, which had gotten dangerously off-track again. "Mud Boy must be more athletic than I gave him credit for. Or I suppose it's Mud _Man_ now?"

Holly crossed her arms. "Are you finished?"

Foaly considered this for a moment. "For today. Honestly, Holly, what were you thinking?"

"I love him, Foaly."

"But it's _Fowl_."

"Exactly."

She met his gaze until he dropped his eyes. It didn't take long. It had been three years since she and Artemis had returned from Hybras and switched eyes, but even now she found people were often uncomfortable meeting her gaze. Her friends and colleagues had noticed the change immediately and she'd had to explain what had happened dozens of times. She had the impression that they were unsettled to know it was Artemis's blue eye, as if he could somehow watch them from the inside of her skull. Grub Kelp was forever skittering away when he saw her; the new eye definitely had advantages.

"Are you going to report me?" she asked finally.

He smiled and keyed in a series of commands in his keyboard. "For what? Shagging a Mud Man while on duty? I don't think there's actually a law against that."

"Thank you, Foaly."

"Just... be careful, Holly. You know how Artemis is."

"Oh I know," Holly said, smiling. "I know better than anyone."


	3. Two: The Day After

**Two: The Day After**

"Arty, you're in high spirits today!" the voice of Artemis Fowl senior wafted down the hallway to Butler's ears. Butler continued to sauté the porcini mushrooms for Artemis's lunch (the family cook had the day off until dinner) with the seriousness with which he'd have dispatched a petty thug trying to pick his pocket. But he was smiling _inside_. Oh how he was smiling.

Butler had known Artemis for all of his eighteen years but in that time he didn't think he'd ever seen him so... _happy_. Not even when he'd forged his first Monet. Artemis was smiling. Grinning even. It was positively unnatural.

Or at least Butler would have thought so if he hadn't been aware of precisely _why_ Artemis was so pleased. As it was, he did know why and was satisfied that such unusual good humour was not unexpected under the circumstances. After all, spending the night with a beautiful woman for the first time was bound to have that effect on an eighteen-year-old, even one of Artemis's intellectual prowess.

"Father," Artemis replied, quite calmly. "I'm glad you're all well. How was your trip?"

"Marvellous, Arty," replied Angeline. "I wish you could have come. How are you today? Is your migraine gone?"

"Yes, I'm entirely recovered."

_More than recovered_, Butler thought. The sight of those two coming down to breakfast together this morning was something he would never forget. Holly, decked out in her Shimmer Suit as always, had looked abashed while Artemis had put on a good show of composure... composure that had melted away into a smile whenever he'd turned to glance at her.

"We saw dinosaurs!" Beckett announced.

"The brachiosaurus model was extremely disappointing," Myles noted. "Its neck was positioned at an untenable angle."

"That's very common in older exhibits," Artemis noted. "It likely won't be corrected until the museum renovates. Though there's still a great deal of debate over the issue of sauropod neck posture."

Attention focussed on the skillet, Butler stirred in several cloves of chopped garlic with the browned mushrooms. He let the mixture cook for another thirty seconds and then pulled the skilled off the heat and set it aside, turning his attention to the fettuccine.

In the other room, Angeline continued to remark on how much better Artemis was looking. If only they knew...

It wasn't that it had been particularly unexpected. For some time now, Artemis had been conducting "research," as he called it; he'd been making a study of love, scouring psychological and literary texts on the matter. And since Artemis only had two female acquaintances – Minerva Paradizo and Holly Short – it was not terribly difficult to figure out the aim of his research. Beautifully convenient as it would have been for Artemis to take an interest in Minerva, Butler did not have to be a genius to realize that it was not the young French girl who had captured his charge's attention. After all, Artemis had been reading – and making Butler listen to – a wide assortment of tales focussed on men with fey lovers, everything from Keats's "La Belle Dame Sans Merci," to the story of Sigurd and Brynhild in the Volsung Saga. Artemis's calculated obliviousness did not fool Butler, nor did Butler really believe it was meant to. Rather, he supposed it was Artemis's sideways manner of letting him in on his secret.

And when Butler had pointed out that most of these stories did not end happily, Artemis had shrugged and suggested that there was always _The Lord of the Rings_.

"Did anything happen, Arty?" Angeline asked, but her voiced faded as they moved into another room.

Butler drained the fettuccine and poured it into the skillet along with the mushrooms. He stirred in black pepper, pecorino cheese, a touch of lemon, and dash more olive oil.

And Holly? No, that did not much surprise him either. After all those two had been through together over the years, the lengths she had gone to for Artemis, what else could that be but love? That it had grown from something innocent to something more seemed only natural. Even her apparent forwardness was hardly unexpected when he considered it; she was always wont to act on her feelings. It seemed to be an elfish trait, quite the opposite of Artemis.

Butler had just finished adding the garnishes to the plate when Artemis entered the kitchen, having finally disentangled himself from his family. He watched as Artemis forked the pasta into his mouth, without taking much note of it, judging by the distant expression on his face. He looked as if he were replaying something in his thoughts and Butler could well imagine what.

When Artemis paused, fork frozen in midair, Butler could keep silent no longer. "When should I expect Holly to drop by again?"

Artemis hurriedly placed his forgotten fork down on his plate and straightened. "I don't know yet. With the time difference and her shift I don't expect she'll call until morning."

"I see. I'll brush up on my vegetarian cooking."

"Best make it vegan to be safe," Artemis said, though it was clear to Butler from the slight curve of his lips that Artemis had other things on his mind than food.

Butler shook his head. "What exactly did you tell your family you were so happy about, Artemis? I heard them asking."

Artemis smiled his vampire smile. "I simply told them I'd proven Goldbach's Conjecture."

Butler had to check Wikipedia to be sure Artemis was joking.

**ooo**

Artemis had a smaller version of the fairy communicator, the one he wore as an elaborate ring, but when Holly's call came in, he made a point of answering on the one she had slipped him all those years ago. It had a screen.

Her image sprang to life on the tiny screen and no sooner had he answered than a smile appeared on her face. "Artemis," she said warmly. "I waited to call. I didn't want to wake you."

"You didn't," he answered. He couldn't help himself: he was grinning. And so was she.

_Completely besotted – the both of us._

After a few moments of this, Holly laughed. "I feel like an adolescent again."

"I seem to have that effect on you."

"Try not to sound so pleased about it."

He gave her one of his vampire smiles. He couldn't deny it: it did please him. That after all this time he could distract her as much as she did him and that she wanted him as he did her. It pleased him very much indeed.

"So how are things up there?" she asked.

"Fine. My family is back and they were pleased to find me in such high spirits. To Butler's great amusement, I might add." Butler knew exactly why Artemis was in such a fine mood, the natural effect of a surge of post-coital endorphins.

"I got an earful from Foaly myself. He had a good laugh at my expense."

"So you spoke him today."

"Yes. Don't worry about the cam feed. He shut it off before things got too... interesting."

Artemis allowed himself a moment to feel relief washing over him. He had not cared for the thought that the centaur might have had the misfortune of eavesdropping on an intimate moment.

"And you?" he asked finally. "How did you fare with the Council?"

Holly rolled her eyes. "They're satisfied you're not up to anything too dastardly. In fact they seem to think I've got you in the palm of my hand." A derisive snort.

"And so you do. Or at least you did yesterday," he said archly.

Holly's lips quirked. "I doubt that's quite what the Council had in mind."

"I should hope not. I would be very disappointed in the Council if they'd sent you to..." He cleared his throat. "Deflower me."

Holly rolled her eyes. "That sounds like something from one of your romance novels."

"You'd prefer 'ravish' perhaps? Or 'despoil'?"

"How about 'shag'? Though I don't think that quite covers it."

"No," he said, looking through the viewscreen into her eyes. "I don't believe it does."

Her smile was wistful as she spoke again. "This isn't going to be easy. It's only been a day... And I _miss_ you."

"I miss you as well," he admitted. It came out more stiffly than he'd have liked, but she smiled. She knew; she understood. "When do you think you'll next be able to visit?"

"Not for a month at least."

"A month."

A groan rolled out of him then and Holly winced. "Don't do that. It makes it worse."

"You object to my groaning?"

"Yes. When you do it like that. And you're over there and I'm over here. In that case I object very much."

He smiled, revealing an incisor. "Ah, Captain Short, and all this time I thought you were immune to my charms."

"Liar. You haven't thought that in years." Her expression sobered. "Tell me, Artemis... How much of last night– yesterday– was planned?"

"Very little."

Her brow furrowed. "Are you sure? Because it worked out to your advantage on two counts. You got a cure for your magically-induced migraines. And... me."

"The former was only a matter of chance. I couldn't have predicted you would arrive when you did. That was fortuitous, I admit. There was a plan, Holly, but nothing so elaborate. I'm sure you've noticed I've given my criminal tendencies an outlet you can't object to?" And then, before she could correct him, "Or that you can _hardly_ object to in any case."

"That was for my benefit?"

"Largely yes, though admittedly it was a path my father started me on when he returned to us. That it might help my cause where you were concerned was an extra incentive. Would you fault me for plotting the most effective way of gaining your esteem?"

She smiled and shook her head. "You're a born schemer, Artemis. But the funny thing is, I love you anyway." It was embarrassing, really, how much hearing those words affected him, leaving him grinning like a fool.

After a few more moments of foolish grinning on both their parts, Holly gave herself a shake. "I'm going to bankrupt myself with these calls."

"I could–"

"I don't want your charity, Artemis," she snapped.

He raised an eyebrow, utterly unconvinced. "I hardly think that a man offering to help pay for long distance calls so he can spend more time talking to his lover constitutes charity."

"Lover," she repeated shaking her head.

He allowed himself a hint of one of his vampire smiles. "I wasn't certain if you preferred 'girlfriend.' It seemed a touch prosaic for our situation."

Holly ran a hand over her eyes, taking in a deep breath. She was still smiling, though. "I need to get used to this. It's strange still."

"Perhaps, but strangely pleasant as well."

Her smile widened. "Yes. I should go though. It's late here."

He nodded. "The time difference, yes..." He'd just gotten up and she would be going to bed. "Well... Goodnight then, Holly."

"Goodnight, Artemis."


	4. Three: One Moon After

**Three: One Moon After**

Holly's heart raced as she soared beneath a star-studded sky. The full moon loomed over the horizon, a lustrous white disc whose magic sent goose bumps prickling along her skin. The air was cool, and already the scent of the sea wafted to her nostrils, though she soared over wide, green fields still. Below, the lights of human dwellings pockmarked the countryside, but for once their presence did not trouble her thoughts. There was only room for one thought tonight.

_I'm going to see Artemis!_

The moon magic, the heady mixture of surface scents and speed, the thrill of a night's freedom from her responsibilities, none gave her as much joy as that single thought – even if the realization of it made her feel like a silly schoolgirl.

But a schoolgirl would not be doing what she and Artemis would in a few hours' time. When Foaly had gotten word of her plans, he'd made a snide remark about a "booty call." She was only thankful that Mulch was unaware of the whole thing; the jibes she'd have gotten from him would have been maddening.

Yet none of that could touch the joy that bubbled up in her like a underground spring breaking to the surface. All this over Artemis of all people. It seemed ridiculous really. He was conniving, manipulative, a liar _par excellence_, a criminal since the age of ten and yet... And yet he was more than all that. He was Artemis. And that thought brought a smile to her face.

Her heart leaped into her throat as the black bulk of the manor rose up in the night sky. Fearsome carved gargoyles glowered down from its heights and Holly knew she must be one of the few people to find the edifice the least bit inviting, and in her case it was an irony indeed as it had once been her prison.

She alighted in a grove of horse chestnuts and ash and settled herself beneath a lone willow to wait for him as he had asked her to. Within moments she found herself fidgeting – like an adolescent waiting for her date to pick her up. Mulch would have had a field day had he known.

Pulling off her helmet, Holly massaged the tips of her ears to get the circulation going and drew in slow, deep breaths of evening air. He did not keep her waiting long.

She heard his footfalls before she saw him, and got to her feet. And then there he was. He came to a halt beneath the drooping willow boughs, and for a moment they simply stared at one another as if startled to find each other there. He was dressed in a navy sweater, grey woolen pants, and Gucci loafers. This was his "casual" look, she knew. In spite of all their adventures he was still deathly pale and so reedy that she wondered if he ever ate, but somehow the sight of him still set her pulse racing. He was slightly winded as if he had hurried; she smiled to herself.

"Artemis."

"Holly," he said, smiling. "I've been looking forward to seeing you."

"I'll bet you have," she said, and winked at him. He licked his lips and she laughed at him, activating her wings and flitting up to an overhanging branch. She sat there, legs dangling, crossed at the ankle, and looked down at him from her lofty perch.

He craned his neck to look up at her. "What did you tell them to get your surface visa?"

"I told them I needed to perform the ritual – which I do," she said as she reached into her belt and produced an acorn. "And I said I'd check up on you while I was at it."

His lips quirked. "And I'm sure you'll do a very thorough job of it."

"You're awfully presumptuous for someone who's only gotten lucky once."

He sniffed. "I'm confident that luck had very little to do with it."

And before she could make a smart retort, he caught her eye and she was pulled in by the tide of that blue and hazel gaze.

"Are you planning to come down anytime soon?"

His impatience only amused her. She grinned and kicked her feet out. "You could always come up here."

Artemis stiffened. "I _do not_ climb trees."

Holly shook her head. "If I'd grown up in a place like this," she said, sweeping her hand to indicate the forested grounds of the estate, "I'd have climbed every one."

Artemis's brow crinkled. "You would also have had the benefit of magic to heal you should you have fallen down and broken your neck. As it stands," he continued, drawing himself up, "I was neither inclined nor permitted to indulge in such an activity."

"Not permitted?"

She watched as he glanced down and brushed an insect from his sleeve. "My father," he replied without looking up, "felt strongly that I should spend my time in a more constructive manner."

Looking down at him through the shadow of the branches that slanted over his features, Holly's heart ached. This man she loved and had known since he'd been a boy, had never really had a childhood. Even when he'd not been an adult, he had shouldered the burdens of one. She activated her wings once more and flew down to his level to embrace him. He stiffened, momentarily uncertain as if the ghost of that awkward child had risen up between them, but then he relaxed again and wound his arms around the small of her back, her affection welcome and accepted.

When she kissed him, the earlier giddiness of her flight reasserted itself and she was smiling – a little foolishly, she thought – as she drew away from him.

"Now," he said, gesturing in the direction of the manor, "please come in. I've had Butler fix us a dinner that's completely vegan and entirely organic."

"You realize that for me this will be brunch?"

He waved a hand dismissively. "That's beside the point. I thought it might be pleasant to enjoy each other's company in a normal manner for once. I have it on good authority that most couples' courtship does not involve time travel or being chased by trolls."

They walked a few paces from beneath the drooping boughs of the willow before Holly came to a halt. "Hold on. My acorn," she said, drawing it out again. She glanced around for a moment and then moved towards an open patch of ground. Kneeling, she dug a small hole, dropped the acorn in, and covered it with loose earth.

She inhaled deeply as the magic seared through her veins, warm and electric, and utterly joyful. She could feel it sparking through every sinew, nearly bursting through her pores. All at once she wished she could share it with him. How awful it must be not to have magic, not to have that connection to the earth, that deep-rooted sense of belonging. No wonder humans made such a mess of things; it was like they were missing one of their senses, blundering around like a blinded gnome. Looking over her shoulder at Artemis's tall frame, she did the only thing she could think of and took to the air.

Bursting with barely-contained magic, Holly pressed her lips to his, feeling it spark between them, jolting through him for an instant. A taste of it was all she could offer him, but for a moment she felt the ghost of that connection they had shared in the time stream, that closeness she could hardly fathom.

They were both breathless as they broke apart but Artemis managed a crooked smile. "Is there any way we could arrange for you to visit on _every_ full moon?"

She laughed and punched him in the arm. "Come on. I was promised a meal, remember?" She dropped to the ground and together they made their way to back to the manor.

**ooo**

They ate in a lounge on the ground floor at a low, Japanese-style table rather than in the Fowl's dining hall or kitchen. When they knelt on the floor on either side of the small table, Holly realized that Artemis had wanted to avoid her having to deal with ill-fitting Mud Man-sized furniture. She was unused to such considerateness from him and it touched her that he had thought of such a detail.

Butler arrived moments later carrying a tray with two steaming plates. "Hello, Butler," she greeted him, feeling a little flushed. It was strange to be here not as an LEP officer or a visitor, but as... Artemis's girlfriend.

"Holly," he said with a smile. "I'd ask how you've been doing, but Artemis makes a point of telling me all your news. It's Holly this, and Holly that."

Artemis's cheeks were suddenly much rosier than normal and he cleared his throat.

Holly had mercy on him and turned her attention to the meal. "Frond! that looks amazing. Did you become a chef in your retirement, Butler?"

At the centre of each plate was a half acorn squash stuffed with quinoa grain, dotted with burgundy-coloured dried cherries. An asparagus and mushroom risotto flavoured with saffron took up one side of the plate, while the colourful hues of a grilled pepper salad adorned the rest.

"Cordon Blue cooking is part of our training. Though I had to read up on a few things to put this menu together."

Holly smiled. "Thank you."

"I'll leave you be then," Butler announced summarily. "Let me know if you need anything."

Holly's eyes followed the retreating form of the bodyguard, all at once abashed that he should leave simply so that she and Artemis could be alone. It was not something she was accustomed to. Most of the time it seemed she and Artemis were thrown together, tossed about on the winds of fate. To have successfully planned and executed a meeting that did not involve some form of disaster seemed well nigh miraculous... and a little strange.

She turned back to face Artemis and for several moments they were both silent. "We should eat," he said. "While it's still warm."

She picked up her knife and fork, both smaller than his, she noted, and much more suited to her elfin hands, and started in on the squash. The first mouthful was a taste of bliss. She closed her eyes to savour it and _mmed_ appreciatively. When she opened her eyes she found Artemis staring at her with a certain look on his face. She raised an eyebrow.

"If I'd known I could coax sounds like _that_ out of you just by feeding you, I'd have sent out a dinner invitation years ago," he said, flashing his vampire smile.

She resisted the urge to toss her napkin at him. "I haven't had food this good in... years."

"You don't cook?"

Holly shrugged. "I use a blender a lot. Nettle smoothies make for a quick meal before a shift. I don't suppose I could borrow Butler?"

"I don't imagine he'd fit into your kitchen."

She smiled, trying to picture the tall Mud Man, hunched over and attempting to operate the kitchenware with his huge hands. "No, probably not."

The risotto and grilled pepper met with equal approval and Artemis looked as pleased as if he'd cooked it all himself. She was about to make a snide remark when the first raindrops pattered against the window, stopping her mid-bite. "Is something the matter?" Artemis asked.

"Rain," she whispered. He raised an eyebrow, awaiting further explanation. "I live underground, Artemis. You have to go to the weather simulation park to see rain. It's not the same, though. Not really." She shook her head. "Whether they admit it or not, everyone misses the surface. You can buy nature recordings – rain, birdcalls, sea lions–

"Sea lions?" Artemis cut in.

"Some of the water sprites in Atlantis find them soothing," Holly explained. "It's not the same as the real thing, though."

"No, I imagine not."

The scattered drops turned into a staccato rhythm and for a while they ate in silence. It always amazed her how he took these things for granted, the sights and sounds and smells of the surface. Artemis could probably live underground and never miss these things. It was ironic really.

She was polishing off the remainder of the risotto when she finally asked the question that had been nagging at her all evening. "What about Opal?"

"What about her?"

She huffed in irritation. "Don't play games with me, Artemis," she said, brandishing her fork.

"I thought we were going to avoid business tonight."

"I'll need to make a report when I get back. I have to at least have asked the question."

He drew himself up and his features reformed themselves into a chill mask. This was no longer Arty, her dear friend; this was Artemis Fowl II, criminal mastermind and a force to be reckoned with. "I've made no significant progress in my research since the Council last enquired. I assure you, if I had, I'd have used that as reason to have them send you up here." He smiled then, revealing an incisor. "Twenty-eight days, Holly. It's been very trying having to wait." He licked his lips and she could feel her pulse speed up under the heat of his gaze.

"I'll leave that part out of my report."

Holly was a smidgen embarrassed when Butler arrived some moments later to clear their plates and offer dessert or refreshments. He was a bodyguard; he could have snapped either of them in two; it was strange to have him playing waiter.

"I'm fine," Holly assured. "If I ate another bite I wouldn't be able to move."

"That wouldn't bode well for the rest of the evening," Artemis noted archly, and she felt herself flush, more due to Butler's presence than anything else. Not that Butler would be unaware of their plans but... This would all take some getting used to.

Butler brought Artemis a cup of coffee and then excused himself. She knew it was late by Artemis's reckoning, but she had no intention of rushing; he could sacrifice a few hours of sleep for this.

She sipped at her fruit juice with deliberate languor. All the while, she could feel his gaze on her like a leopard eyeing its intended prey. "You know, Artemis, I'm not sure how it is with Mud People, but among elves, a woman can always tell when she'd being mentally undressed."

"It seemed a way to occupy myself until such time as I can undress you in fact."

"The more you stare, the longer it's going to take me to finish this," she said, holding up the crystal goblet of cranberry juice.

He stared at her for while longer and she was almost startled when he spoke again "What do you wear normally?"

She titled her head and peered at him. "What do I wear?"

"Yes. I only ever see you in uniform. What do you wear when you're not on duty?"

"Trousers and a shirt, what else? An emerald-coloured frock coat?"

A sly smile played across his lips. "Have I mentioned recently how very appreciative I am that you're such a far cry from the folkloric leprechaun?"

She downed the rest of her juice and, rising to her feet, came to stand next to Artemis. Kneeling as he was on the floor, she could look him in the eye without craning her neck, and she could easily lean in and brush a kiss over his lips. "No, but feel free to be as appreciative as you'd like."


	5. Four: Aftertaste

**Four: Aftertaste**

The first night of the physics symposium featured a wine and cheese. Artemis, in his navy suit and burgundy tie, looked quite dapper among the bearded and bespectacled professors who made up the bulk of the attendees. Sipping at an uninspired vintage of red wine, he spotted another who stuck out even more, a young lady with a mane of blond curls. Though he had not seen her name on the guest list, he was not particularly surprised when Minerva Paradizo crossed the room to join him, her smile radiant.

"Artemis, it is so good to see you," she crooned with a French accent that he was almost certain she affected for its charm. She was fluent in several languages and doubtless could have spoken English as a native had she chosen to.

She kissed him on each cheek as was the custom with the French and he reflected that when he was fifteen even this polite – if calculated – touch would have sent a thrill up his spine. Now it did no such thing. "Minerva, how good to see you. I hadn't realized you'd be in attendance."

"It was planned at the last minute, but I couldn't miss the chance to hear your paper."

"I'm flattered, but I don't believe it will be anything groundbreaking."

She sighed and took his arm. "Let's walk for a few minutes. I would like to get some air."

He set down his half-emptied glass of wine and obliged her. Together they made their way down the hall and out into the quadrangle on the east side of the building. The summer air was sweet with the scent of freshly mowed grass, and at this time of year few students trolled the university campus. The wine left a lingering aftertaste at the back of his mouth.

"There's something you wished to discuss," Artemis said. It was not, in fact, a question. Even to say there was "something" was merely a matter of politeness. He knew exactly what she wanted to talk about. This was not the first time she had accosted him on the matter.

"You are always so... blunt, Artemis. Is it impossible that I might simply want to spend a few moments with you?"

"Not impossible," Artemis replied. "Just highly unlikely."

She let go of his arm and turned to face him directly. "When are you going to write the real paper? The one about the physics of magic."

"You know very well I have no intention of publishing any such thing."

"Be reasonable. With your expertise you could revolutionize the world of science. That energy can be manipulated in ways we never imagined... it could change everything. And you would be the one to have discovered it. The Nobel would easily be yours."

He shrugged. "I don't believe the accolades of the scientific community are worth destroying an entire civilization."

Minerva heaved a sigh and rolled her eyes. "You are always so dramatic. Artemis, listen to me," she said very gently. "I've resigned myself to the fact that you won't share you research with me, but you must publish your findings. The world _must_ know the things we've learned."

Share his research. As if his adventures with the People had been nothing but a grand science project. As if they were his research subjects rather than his friends. He supposed if Minerva knew about his relationship with Holly she would assume that, too, was a study – in interspecies mating rituals perhaps.

He gave a shrug. "If the scientific community is to learn about magic, they shall have to do so on their own."

"Artemis, be reasonable. Think of how much it could explain: the mysteries of dark matter, cold fusion, the variation of the fine-structure constant observed in quasar studies. All these phenomena make sense if you factor in magic. If they realized there was a force of energy that had never been taken into account in standard formula and calculations... Just think of it!" She snagged his arm in her enthusiasm and while he believed that much was genuine, he did not care for her familiarity.

Artemis shook his head. "You've grossly overestimated my understanding of the subject, Minerva. To know of something's existence and to be able to quantify it in scientific terms are vastly different things."

"But is it not worth studying? Think of how we could change the world."

"Back to 'we' now, is it?"

Her brow furrowed slightly. "Why must you be so difficult? I've only ever wanted to be your friend, Artemis."

As the breeze tousled her curls, the buttery light of the old-fashioned cast-iron lamppost nearby gave them a golden hue – like a ruffled halo. For a moment he regarded her as she remained in this cherubic pose. That she was beautiful, brilliant, and cunning, he could not deny. That her regard had, for a short time, pleased him greatly was equally true. But that she had only ever wanted to be his friend? A bald-faced lie, even if she believed it herself. Every time they met, she somehow turned the conversation to magic or demons or fairies. He didn't think she was even conscious of it, but she was forever pressing him for information.

"I'm sorry, Minerva, but it's simply not my field of interest."

Her brow furrowed. "What _is_ your 'field of interest,' then? Petty crime?"

The accusation would once have left him piqued but now he only flashed an incisor. "There's nothing petty about it."

Minerva huffed. "You're as bad as all the others. You do not take me seriously."

The breeze raked through his hair and for an instant he was reminded of Holly, of how her fingers tangled in his hair when she kissed him. It was true that he'd exploited the People on more than one occasion, but risking their exposure was not something he had ever desired. He swallowed hard, choking down his annoyance and the lingering taste of the cheap wine. "It's you who isn't taking my refusal seriously. What do you think would happen to the fairy people if they were exposed? Do you think most people would welcome them with open arms? Do you think most nations would welcome their presence?"

Her cheeks were rosy in the cool air, her lips thinned to a line. "It's possible to discuss magic as an abstract principle without exposing anything."

"I'm certain if it were possible to prove the existence of magic without producing an actual fairy you would have done so yourself years ago."

She glared daggers at him for a few moments before turning to head back inside alone. It was not the first time this had come up, nor the first time they had had a disagreement on the subject, but her departure left a bitter taste. She had been kind to Butler those three years he'd been missing in limbo and she was the only person with whom he could discuss a number of matters of intellectual interest on an even playing field.

As she walked away, her blond curls bouncing behind her, a sensation gnawed at Artemis. He realized he missed Holly.

**ooo**

_'I frequently wonder at the wisdom of the decision to leave Minerva's memories intact. If the Council (or should I specifically hold Ark Sool responsible for this situation?) chose this path based on their experiences with my own mind wipe then I would very much disagree with their logic. Previous to the mind wipe, my behaviour had notably improved, but that was after very significant exposure to the People and a number of intense emotional experiences associated with them. Minerva's experiences were lesser both in number and intensity, which suggests that her character would have been less altered by a mind wipe than was mine._

_'The entire experience was quite vexing. I can only hope that she will have relented when I see her next, which will likely be during tomorrow afternoon's discussion panel.'_

Holly scowled at her computer screen. The next line, which explained exactly what the panel was about, was nigh indecipherable to her as she was not by profession an astrophysicist. Artemis's emails were always a mixed bag, endearing one moment and exasperating the next – very much like Artemis himself.

Leaning back in her chair, she tried to picture him at his discussion panel droning on about the topic at hand with that superior air he took on at such times. He'd be in one of his tailored Armani suits, something dark-coloured – navy blue or charcoal perhaps – with a contrasting tie, and perfectly polished black shoes. The overhead fluorescent lights would make him look a tad sickly and his mismatched eyes would disconcert anyone who happened to meet his gaze. In short, he would manage, as usual, to discomfit the entire audience.

Except Minerva Paradizo.

"Geniuses," Holly grumbled, and returned her attention to the message, trying not to bristle at the idea of the young French girl monopolizing Artemis's attention as she surely would.

_'She has previously published papers on the subject so I expect there to be heated discussion. After years of being discounted due to age and gender she is quite desperate for recognition from the academic community and aggressive in her pursuit of it. She seems even more driven now than when we first encountered her.'_

Finding that she was grinding her teeth, Holly opted to head to the refrigerator and scout for the remains of that morning's kale smoothie. After a few sips, she sighed and set it down. How could Artemis not realize it? Minerva, for all her intellect, was an adolescent girl; it wasn't just the _academics'_ recognition she was desperate for.

An entire message about Minerva Paradizo. Just what she'd needed at the end of a shift that had included a three-hour stint of catching up on e-forms. She had half a mind to write back and tell him that if Miss Paradizo was so interesting perhaps he ought to invite _her_ to a romantic dinner at Fowl Manor next time.

She sat down again. Fingers poised over the Gnommish letters of her keyboard, Holly skimmed the message once more. It was only now that she noticed the letter's closing.

_Semper fidelis,_

_Artemis_

Holly leaned back into her chair and smiled.

Latin. "Always faithful." An unusual closing, but it was the very fact that he had chosen a foreign phrase that cheered her. Artemis often tossed in bits and pieces of other languages, knowing that her gift of tongues would allow her to understand them. At first she had thought it only a matter of pretension, but the occasions on which he chose to use these sundry bits of foreign vocabulary always seemed to be emotionally charged, and she had a nagging suspicion that it was easier for him to express his deepest emotions in this sideways manner.

She typed her message. It was possible to get human language setups for the keyboard, but while the gift of tongues granted her the ability to understand English, it did not give her expertise at typing on foreign language keypads, so Artemis wrote in English and she replied in Gnommish. And it worked.

_Long day. Call you tomorrow._

_I love you. I miss you._

_Yours,_

_Holly_

Smiling, Holly hit the send button.


	6. Five: Afterglow

**Five: Afterglow**

Lying on her belly, chin set on her folded arms, Holly enjoyed the pleasant lethargy that had settled over her. Next to her, propped up on one elbow, Artemis let his fingers trail down her spine. And while it sent a delicious shiver through her, she had a niggling suspicion that he was counting her vertebrae.

When his fingers moved to begin methodically tracing the lines of one elfin ear, she was certain of it.

"You know, Artemis, if you're really that interested in fairy physiology I'm sure we could download some books for you from the Haven City Library."

"But it's elfin anatomy in particular that interests me," he replied, "and why read a book when private lessons are so much more stimulating?"

"Who knew all those years ago that you'd turn out to be such an awful flirt." She cast him a sidelong glance in time to catch the smug grin on his face. He was always so pleased with himself.

"What would you like to do? It's too early to go to sleep, even by my usual schedule."

She sniffed. "You're the one who was in such a hurry. It was all 'Holly, I want you. Holly, I need you.'"

Artemis cocked an eyebrow. "You didn't particularly seem to object."

Her lips quirked. "Maybe not."

"So," he began, his fingers tracing slow spirals on her bare skin, "what shall we do?"

"I can think of a few things."

"Oh?"

"Put some clothes on," she ordered, laughing at his stunned expression as she sprang off the bed.

**ooo**

Holly settled herself on the balustrade of his bedroom's balcony and drew in a deep breath of the evening air, revelling in the scents of wet leaves and grass, things commonplace to Artemis perhaps, but rare and precious to her. His scent, too, clung to her, and beneath her Shimmer Suit she could still feel the ghost of his touch along every nerve. She waited impatiently for him to join her.

"So what are we doing out here?" he asked when he finally padded over to her in a wine-coloured bathrobe.

"Looking at the stars." His air was incredulous. "Indulge me, Arty. I live in the centre of the earth; we don't have stars."

He came to stand next to her on the balcony. Their heights almost evened out this way and it was pleasant to be able to look him in the face. His eyes scanned the twinkling dots of light as if he were trying to get his bearings on a map, and for a moment his features were more interesting to her than the sparkling heavens above. The hint of stubble on his chin, the line of his jaw, the Adam's apple in his throat, these things fascinated her. He had been only a boy when they'd met; he was only barely a man now, and yet she loved him more than anything. How had that happened?

After a few seconds he nodded. "Draco," he said.

"What?"

"The cluster of four stars you can see over the top of that tree," he said pointing, "makes up the head of the dragon pictured in the constellation of Draco. It consists of fourteen main stars and is one of the oldest noted constellations in human history."

Holly rolled her eyes. "Can't you enjoy anything without analysing it?" The expression on his face was answer enough. "I'll take that as a 'no.'" The piqued look that flashed over his features gave him the momentary air of a child and she had to check the urge to laugh. "For Frond's sake, Artemis, _come here_," she said, snagging his arm and pulling him towards her. He seemed puzzled until she placed his arm around her waist. "There," she said, leaning back against his chest, head tucked under his chin. "This is much better."

"That I can agree with." His breath tickled the tip of her ear as he spoke. Pressed close against her, he was warm in the cool air. Her friend. Her lover. Artemis.

"It was nice to be able to come in this evening. I was expecting to have to meet you in the glade like last time."

He nodded. "As chance would have it, my family was heading out today." She felt tension ripple through his body as he spoke.

"Artemis? What is it?"

"Nothing of consequence. Only that my mother is becoming suspicious of my frequent tendency to excuse myself from family activities. She believes I'm 'up to something.'"

"Something nefarious?"

"Most likely."

Holly titled her head to glace towards him. "It wouldn't ever occur to her that you might just be sneaking around with a girl, would it?"

"No, I don't believe that's crossed her mind."

"The one time you're actually acting your age too." She felt the whoosh of breath as he sniffed.

"She's been fretting far too much over the matter."

Holly heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come on such short notice. It wasn't even my idea this time." She had completed an assignment in Portugal and Trouble has suggested, quite innocently, that she check up on Artemis while she was on the surface. The commander had been puzzled when Foaly had begun to chortle over the com line.

"Don't be ridiculous," Artemis chided. "I haven't seen you in seven and a half weeks. It was becoming intolerable." His arms tightened around her and for a few seconds she closed her eyes and savoured his embrace. She could count on her fingers the number of nights they'd spent together. There was never enough time. And time was something they had so little of. He was only human; he had hardly any time at all. "I've sometimes wished after the time travelling incident, that we could wipe her memories. It would make things so much simpler. However..."

She could tell from the wavering of his voice how much the thought horrified him, that he could wish such a thing at all. But that conniving part of him was familiar to her, no longer something strange and fearful. Only a part of his mind that worked with a glacial logic to which the end counted for more than the means. But she knew he had it in him to temper that part of himself. "Anyone would think that. The Council thought that about you... and look how that turned out," she said, turning to glance at him and wink. "Simpler isn't always better."

"I'm legally an adult and have an intellectual prowess surpassing that of any normal person. I am entirely capable of taking care of myself. There's no need for her to concern herself so."

Holly laughed. "She's your mother, Arty. It's her job to worry about you."

"You seldom speak of _your_ family," Artemis noted.

"I miss them too much," Holly whispered. Both her parents had died, years ago, before he'd even been born. "You don't know how lucky your are to still have them."

"I do know," he said and then cleared his throat. "And I realize that I have you to thank for it." She smiled. He always sounded so stiff and formal when he was sincere.

Holly's eyes lingered once more over the starscape spread out before her like an artist's holo-canvas. They were far enough away from Dublin that even the dimmer stars were visible to the naked eye and not drowned out by the glare of electric lighting. "Even Julius is gone now."

Artemis smiled a vampire smile. "I imagine he'd have a few words about our relationship."

"He'd think I was out of my mind."

Artemis straightened. "He wasn't around to see the full extent of my transformation. I'm not the person I was when he first encountered me."

"He'd _still_ think I was out of my mind."

"I would think Julius would be pleased to see I've reformed."

"Reformed." Holly snorted. "You're still a felon; you just channel your criminal energies in a less harmful direction."

"Still an improvement over how I was and how I would still be without the People. And without you."

She cast her gaze out to the stars once more. Would Julius be happy for her, she wondered, or would she just be disappointing to him. But she remembered even at the end... "The last thing he ever told me... was to save you."

Artemis leaned close to let his lips brush over the pointed tip of one elfin ear. "You went above and beyond the call of duty."


	7. Six: After Hours

**Six: After Hours**

It irked Holly more than a little that, in spite of the fact that they were in his bed, in a state of undress, Artemis still felt the need to reach for his ringing cell phone.

She made a sound that was ostensibly a groan but very nearly a growl. "Don't answer it."

"It's Butler. He would only call if it were important." For a moment he scrabbled for the phone before finally laying hands on it and answering. "Yes?" A pause. "I see. I'll be right there." He shut the phone and then, before she could ask, he vaulted out of bed with unusual agility and began scrambling for his clothes. "My mother is home."

Stunned, Holly didn't even have time to utter a "D'Arvit!" before a half-dressed Artemis dashed out of the room.

**ooo**

Artemis managed to get his shirt buttoned up before reaching the grand stairway. As he descended the stairs with great deliberateness, he performed a mental check. Shoes? Check. Socks? Check. His belt was done up. So was everything else.

He arrived at the bottom of the stairway just as his mother was shaking off her umbrella. "It's absolutely pouring!"

He knew. Holly had arrived dripping wet. Her Shimmer Suit was waterproof but his carpeting was not and he'd insisted she remove the suit as quickly as possible – though concern over the rug had really been only a minor consideration.

"Mum, is everything all right?"

"Everything's fine, Arty," she said, as she slipped out of her coat. A cluster of raindrops rested in her blond hair, shining like pearls as they caught the light. She took her time hanging up her coat in the closet and then turned her full attention to him. "I wasn't feeling well and decided to come home. That's all."

"Perhaps you should lie down then."

"I'm feeling much better already just being here. Are you all right, Arty? You looked flushed," she said, pressing a hand to his forehead. "You're not running a temperature, are you?"

"I assure you, I'm quite well."

She laughed. "All right. You're the one with the medical training. So," she said, walking into the sitting room as he trailed behind her, "what have you been up to this evening?"

"Catching up on some journal reading. The Applied Physics Letters had an article about quantum confinement phenomena that was of particular interest."

Angeline Fowl turned and stared hard at her son and Artemis felt much as he had three years ago when they had had their little chat about fairies after his mother's recovery from Opal's possession. "Now, Arty, I'm not going to be put off by physics. Sit down."

He took a seat on the couch, crossing his legs and trying to maintain as neutral an expression as possible, though his boxers, which he had pulled on hastily, were bunched up in an uncomfortable manner and he'd almost have sworn he could still feel the tickle of Holly's lips on his skin.

Angeline sat in a wingback chair, its high back and sides towering around her like a throne. "You've been avoiding your family and I want to know _why_ you want us out of the house so badly." She paused, worry crinkling her brow. "If you've gotten into trouble with those fairies again..."

"There's no need for concern, mother."

"I thought we were clear that you would talk to me about this."

Three years ago he had told her everything – more or less anyway: the abduction, how it had led in turn to her healing and to the recovery of Artemis Fowl Senior, their subsequent adventures, Opal Koboi, his three year absence. She had kept these things a secret between them all this time, but he did not want to worry her and had kept his continued involvement with the People as much to himself as possible.

"Arty..."

"Everything is fine. I simply needed time alone to work on a few things."

"What sort of things?"

"I–"

"It's all right, Artemis." The voice seemed to come from thin air. Angeline started to her feet when a figure shimmered into the visible spectrum, hovering in the doorway. "He's only trying to cover for me, Mrs. Fowl."

"You're–" Angeline licked her lips. "You're Artemis's friend, Holly Short, aren't you?"

"Yes."

Clearly nervous, Angeline managed a smile and crossed the room to offer her hand to Holly. "It's lovely to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you from Arty and Butler."

Holly's eyes darted from Artemis back to Angeline but she shook the proffered hand. "Likewise."

"Oh where are my manners? Please sit down. We can all have a chat. I'll have to ask Butler to make some coffee, though – it's so late!"

While Angeline busied herself procuring refreshments, Holly sat down on the couch, careful to leave a respectable distance between herself and Artemis. He glanced at her, eyebrows raised. She only shrugged. There was no telling what she was thinking when she was in one of these moods.

**ooo**

Angeline and Artemis each cradled steaming cups of coffee – Artemis's black, Angeline's with cream and sugar – while Holly sipped a glass of fruit juice. Angeline had asked Butler if he'd like to stay and talk but he had excused himself, saying he hoped to get some rest, though he had looked awfully amused by the entire situation. Now that he was gone the three of them remained in silence, intently focussed on their respective beverages.

"I'd like to thank you," Angeline began after some moments, her eyes on Holly who sat cross-legged on the couch. "For everything. Everything you've done for my family."

Holly shook her head. "There's no need, Mrs. Fowl. Artemis has more than repaid the People for the healings I performed."

"Please, call me Angeline."

"Angeline."

"So you've been coming to visit? That's why Arty's been trying to cart us out of the house?"

Holly's face took on a slightly purple tint as her cheeks flushed. "Yes," she replied, eyes focussed on her hands. Her brow crinkled. "The only way for us to protect ourselves is to stay hidden, and my superiors would like to keep anyone else in your family from learning about the People's existence. The fact that you and Artemis and Butler all have your memories intact is exceptional."

Angeline nodded. "I understand. Still," she said, turning now to Artemis, "I wish you'd at least told me. I was afraid you were in some sort of trouble again."

"I'm sorry to have worried you," Artemis said, his eyes rising for a moment to look into his mother's face and then dropping down to his coffee cup.

Holly resisted the urge to reach out to him. She knew this must be difficult. He loved his mother and she regretted having put him in an awkward position with her once again. The distance, the distrust between their peoples coloured everything and, in turn, sowed further distrust, only deepening the rift that separated them. It shouldn't have to be this way.

The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end and Holly glanced away from Artemis only to realize Angeline was staring at her.

"I'm sorry," Angeline said, smiling apologetically. "It's just that your eyes..."

Holly wasn't certain whether to laugh or to apologise. Finally she opted to smile. "A little memento of our adventures together," she said tapping her cheek bone just below her blue eye. _We'll always be a part of each other now._ She wanted to say how much it meant to her to know that she would always carry a piece of him with her, no matter how far apart they were. She wanted to express to his mother how much she cherished him and this gift of him, but all she could do was look at him as he sat, shoulders hunched, staring into his coffee cup... like a sulky teenager. Her lips quirked at the thought.

She punched him lightly in the shoulder. "If he hadn't been trying to sneak magic out of the time stream it probably wouldn't have happened."

This got his attention. He glanced up, brow furrowed. "I disagree. The time tunnel was unstable due to the particular circumstances under which it was created. We should be thankful that nothing more serious happened."

She rolled her eyes. "Like what? Quantum zombies?"

_Or permanent underwear._

She didn't need to say it; Artemis winced. "There's no need to bring _that_ up."

"Mulch keeps telling me I should have it tinted."

"And what did you tell him?" Angeline asked a bit anxiously. How could she know that the notion of having that blue eye surgically tinted horrified Holly as much as it did Angeline?

"I told him to take a hike. I like how I look... even if nothing I wear ever quite matches anymore."

Artemis cast her a sidelong glance. "You should see the difficulty involved in picking out a matching tie."

The relief was visible on Angeline's face as she smiled and sipped her coffee. "Is it difficult to come and visit? Arty said you live underground..."

"It's not difficult to get here precisely – it only takes a few hours – but it's not easy to get surface visas. We have very strict laws about who can visit the surface and where and when."

"I see. And you're a police officer?"

"I'm with Recon. We track down fairies who've ventured aboveground without visas."

"So you visit Artemis when you're working then?"

She delayed by taking a drink of her juice, barely tasting it. This would have been easier if she'd had a chance to confer with Artemis beforehand. As it stood, she wasn't certain exactly how much she ought to reveal to Angeline.

"Sometimes. The Council likes to have me look in on him now and then. He makes them nervous," she added, her lips quirked.

Artemis put on his best vampire smile. "I'm at a loss as to why."

She almost shot back with, 'Because you're a born schemer,' but caught herself in time. "No," she said dryly. "I can't imagine." She turned back to Angeline. "Sometimes I stop in after I've finished an assignment or when I'm here to complete the Ritual. I've been visiting more often recently. I'm sorry for... imposing."

"Don't worry about that. It's a pleasure to have one of Artemis's friends here. You're welcome any time."

"Thank you."

The tension seemed to ease then and the conversation afterwards, although uncertain at times, was less charged. The rain tapered off and finally ceased its pattering against the windowpane as they talked. It was late into the night when Holly announced that she had best be on her way. Angeline walked her to the door while Artemis went upstairs to fetch her helmet and gloves.

"Thank you," Angeline said as they hovered at the door. "You healed me and you returned Timmy to us. And Arty... Thank you."

"I– You're welcome."

Artemis arrived, Recon equipment in hand. "I'll walk you out."

"It was good to meet you," Holly said.

"Yes, it was," Angeline replied.

They followed the path from the house a short ways until they reached the remains of a stone wall, part of the original Manor fortifications centuries before, but now little more than a picturesquely tumbledown ornament. In spite of the damp from the earlier rainstorm, they settled themselves on it, Artemis on a lower section, Holly on a higher one so that their heights evened out and they could look each other in the face. Holly smiled as she realized they had done so without thought; it had become instinctive.

"Your mother is watching us, you know, from the window."

"I'm aware."

"Are you going to tell her? About us I mean."

"I leave that decision to you."

"Me?"

"Yes," he said, turning to look at her. "Might I remind you that _you_ are the one who chose to reveal yourself to her. I could easily have managed to diffuse the situation."

Holly shook her head. "I don't see the point of lying to someone who already knows about the People. Especially your _mother_." She heaved a sigh. "Oh Artemis, how are we going to do this? Eventually your family's going to start wondering why you're not seeing anyone, why you never introduce them to your girlfriends."

His lips quirked. "Girlfriends? Plural? I appreciate your confidence, Holly, but I'm certain my parents would be shocked that I can find one girlfriend, let alone a harem of them. That said," he went on, forestalling the sharp reply on the tip of her tongue, "I can manage my affairs. My parents are accustomed to my being less than forthcoming where personal matters are concerned. I don't see why they should expect that to change now that I'm an adult."

His face was like a mask then, pallid and impassive. For a moment she wondered what he might have been like had he not carried so many burdens all his life, so many secrets, so many responsibilities. But had it not been for his criminal scheming they would never have met.

"How can you stand it, Artemis?" she whispered. "All the lies."

"I've lived amidst lies my entire life, Holly. They were a part of the very fabric of our family, of the Fowl empire. I've learned to craft them, to move between them like a spider in its web. My involvement with the People only added a few new threads."

She held his face in her hands and looked into his blue and hazel eyes. "I'm going to remove one of those threads." And then she leaned in and pressed her lips to his in a lingering kiss so that there would be no doubt in Angeline's mind what they were to each other.

**ooo**

It was only when the twins had been put to bed and Angeline and her husband were finally able to retire to their room that Artemis Fowl Senior asked the question that had been on his mind since yesterday. "So what _was_ Arty up to? Nothing so dire as you were thinking?"

Angeline's laugh was like the tinkling of wind chimes. "No, nothing bad after all. His girlfriend was visiting."

Artemis Fowl Senior's expression flashed between relief, puzzlement, and disbelief. "Arty has a girlfriend?"

"Yes."

"And he hasn't introduced us?"

"You know how he is, so private, wants to keep everything to himself." Her husband heaved a sigh. She wished she could tell him more, explain why Artemis could not share this part of himself, but this was Artemis's secret, and having been married to the head of the Fowl empire all these years, Angeline understood that sometimes secrets were necessary. "And she lives far away so they don't have the chance to see each other very often."

That got his attention. "Is it that Paradizo girl?"

"No, no, her name's Holly Short. She's quite lovely."

"What does she know about him, about our family?"

"Oh, Timmy," she said smiling at him fondly and reaching out to touch his cheek. "It's _fine_. They met ages ago, when you were missing. She knows all about Arty."

He shook his head and breathed out slowly as if this were all too much to take in. "I didn't know he had any friends let alone a girlfriend." His brow crinkled and he tilted his head as he looked to Angeline. "Do you think we need to talk to him about – I had always assumed he'd read up on the matter and would know to take precautions."

"He's twenty-one," Angeline said with a laugh, though her chest tightened as she thought to herself that really, he was only eighteen.

"Yes, yes, you're right. I forget sometimes. I feel I missed out on so much of his childhood, locked up in my office with the family business."

"You're here now," Angeline said and embraced him.

When he drew back he looked into her face, smiling. "So," he said, eyebrows raised, "Arty's been avoiding his family so he can fool around with his girlfriend." Artemis Fowl Senior actually laughed. "I think it's the first time he's ever acted his age."


	8. Seven: Afterword

**Seven: Afterword**

It was, Holly reflected, quite peculiar to walk the streets of a human city as if she were just one more Mud Person. The night air was crisp and scented with fallen leaves as she drew in a deep breath. For once she had managed to acquire some inconspicuous clothes as her disguise, though considering the way Samhain was celebrated here in the Americas, with Mud Men parading around the streets in disguises of their own, it hardly seemed to matter.

Her companion, who appeared to all as a small boy in a flowery robe, was peering around every which way, delight obvious on his features. This was the second All Hallow's Eve No 1 had been to the surface, but he was just as excited as last year. Qwan believe it was important that No 1 have a solid knowledge of the Mud People and he had gotten permission from Commander Vinyáya for this little outing. Tonight he could roam around freely disguised as Ferdinand with little risk, though that had not prevented the flight commander from assigning an armed guard. Scattered around them were a dozen shielded fairies, blasters at the ready.

Holly smiled at the glee evident on her friend's face as he observed the human children in costumes, toddling up to houses and demanding treats. She ignored the fumes of passing cars and focussed on the luxury of surface air, the crunch of copper-coloured leaves beneath her boots, and the tingle of the full moon's light.

No 1's voice drew her from her thoughts. "You love Artemis, don't you?"

"Yes, of course," she replied without hesitation. With No 1 it was not a loaded question; he loved everyone.

"Did you know that the French language doesn't have a verb 'to like'? They only have 'to love': _aimer_."

She titled her head and considered this a moment. She'd used French now and then during the course of her career, but not extensively. "I hadn't ever thought about it."

A pack of Mud Boys and Mud Girls swarmed past followed by a pair of haggard-looking adults. No 1 paused to observe them with rapt fascination and then resumed their stroll along the sidewalk. "In Spanish," he continued, "the verb to love isn't normally used for romantic love; instead people use _querer_, the verb 'to want.'"

"I see."

No 1 grimaced. "In the demon dialect of Gnommish, to love is the same word as to eat."

A smile quirked Holly's lips. "After meeting Abbot I can understand why."

"I love everyone," No 1 announced, and then, brows creased, "but I don't want to eat anyone."

Holly chuckled. "And I don't want to eat Artemis. Now what brought this up?"

A gust of wind sent dry leaves spiralling around them in a whirlwind of crimson, copper, and gold, and Holly yearned to take to the sky. Nights like these were made for flying.

No 1 snatched a leaf from midair and studied it as he spoke. "Qwan and I have been studying coercive magic."

"Coercive magic?" Holly repeated, a chill running down her spine.

"Like love spells."

"Those have been banned for centuries."

"Yes," No 1 agreed. "They do cause a lot of trouble. Then there's the _mesmer_. Qwan was saying that while you can push someone with the _mesmer_, you can't make them go completely against their personality. You can't make them hurt someone if they're gentle. Or you can't make someone fall in love. That was an example he used." Holly nodded mutely. It was illegal to use the _mesmer_ on other fairies but humans were fair game. She herself had employed the technique many times in the line of duty, but 'coercive' was not a pretty word. "I can't ever practice it so I've had to just study the theory. Do you think Artemis would let me practice on him?"

That suggestion could not but put a smile on her lips. "I don't think he'd care for the idea."

"What if I proposed it as a new experience? He has no idea what it's like to be _mesmerised_."

"Actually he does. I used the _mesmer_ on him once."

No 1 cocked his head. "I thought he wore mirrored glasses when he kidnapped you?"

Holly nodded. "He did. It was six months later when we suspected him of being involved in the goblin rebellion. I'm the one who brought him in."

"Oh," No 1 said, drooping slightly, "I suppose I'll never get to practice it then. Though, I'm not sure I'd like it much anyway." His brow crinkled. "What did you make him do?"

"Hmm?"

"When he was _mesmerised_."

"I told him to take a nap." She shrugged, smiling. "I didn't like him very much at the time."

No 1 tilted his head and peered at her for a moment. "Holly, when you said you loved Artemis..."

She raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were here to study Mud Men. Don't you have a report to write for Qwan when you get back?"

But as the wind whipped the autumn leaves into a frenzy, dancing in the air around them, Holly found herself smiling. A couple of months until the winter solstice and then... then...

**ooo**

There were two messages from Holly in his inbox that afternoon, one blue – a business email pertaining to the ongoing hunt for the two Opal Kobois – and one green. A personal message. But business before pleasure. Artemis read through the business message first and, as it was mainly a status update and didn't require a reply, moved on to the personal message.

He smiled as he read it. He'd been hoping for this bit of news.

_As far as the vacation goes, things are always busy for Recon around the solstice but everything should be normal by the twenty-sixth and Trouble agreed to give me the time off. And my visa came through. The Council approved it, though Commander Vinayáya mentioned that there was hemming and hawing and she had to scare them a little before they caved. But, Arty, are you sure you don't want to spend the holidays with your family?_

Of course I'm sure, was his first response. Milan was lovely, but faced with the choice between two weeks with his parents and seven-year-old brothers, or two weeks alone with Holly, it was a not a difficult decision. He would spend Christmas with his family and then they would head off to Italy for the remainder of the twins' winter break, and he would have Fowl Manor all to himself. And Butler, needless to say.

It was perfect.

Much of the time, trying to organise their little trysts was a complicated affair and they were lucky if they saw each other once a month. He had hoped to see her this week as the LEP had been busy due to Samhain (the number of rogue fairies swelled during such seasonal holidays) but sadly nothing had come up close enough that she could fly over to Ireland afterwards.

He read on about No 1's educational surface visit, and paused over the closing of the letter. At first he thought there was a typo. It seemed to read "take care, gold Artemis." Take care of gold? Take care of your gold? Puzzled, he read it over.

Gnommish was quite foreign compared to other languages he had studied and mastered so it took him an entire second and a half to fully realize the word was not in fact "gold." The root was certainly "gold," but it had been combined with something else – a diminutive, he realized, as he scanned his memory for examples. It took him another quarter of a second to work out what that meant and when he did, a profound sense of satisfaction washed over him, not because he had made out the word's meaning, but because of the meaning itself.

Leaning back into his chair, Artemis allowed a very wide smile to creep across his face. The word was an endearment.

Many endearments hinged on stating the worth of the beloved. One of the most common French endearments was "cher," which also happened to mean "expensive." Gold. What was more valuable? Even fairies were drawn to it, lured by its shimmer. The term Holly had employed was perhaps as common in Gnommish as "dear" or "darling" in English, but for a moment, he revelled in it. That word spoke volumes; it said, you are as treasured as gold.

Artemis smiled some more. He had somehow managed to get Holly Short to fall in love with him. All other feats paled against that one.


	9. Eight: Aftereffect

**Eight: Aftereffect**

It was the look on his face when he saw her that tipped her off. It remained there only a fraction of a second, flashing across his features before he schooled them, allowing a slow smile to spread over his lips, but that momentary slip was enough to let Holly know he was up to something, something he did not want her to find out about.

"Holly," he said, his voice smooth as silk, "it's good to see you." He was never so smooth save when he was lying.

The hotel was on the outskirts of London and she had had to remain shielded until she'd reached the inside of his room. Her omnitool had made quick work of the lock on the sliding balcony door. "They asked me to look in on you," she said, tilting her head slightly to peer around him at his work desk. He stepped closer as if to embrace her – and block her view. She activated her wings and kept just out of his reach. "They get nervous when you travel."

"I was attending a physics lecture at King's College. Don't worry, Minerva wasn't in attendance this time."

Holly's lips thinned to a line. "It's not Minerva Paradizo I'm worried about."

She hovered higher until she could get a glimpse of the desk he'd been working at when she had come in. A tool set too small for his large, human hands was scattered over the surface of the desk along with an object in several pieces. It took her a moment to realize it was a disassembled omnitool.

"_Artemis_." Ill-suppressed fury tinged her voice, but he met her stare for stare.

"Captain," he said cooly.

"That's an omnitool. You know you're not supposed to be tinkering with fairy technology. Where did you get it?"

He shrugged. "It's nothing the LEP need concern themselves with."

His nonchalance nearly sent her over the edge. "D'Arvit, Artemis! I thought you'd learned your lesson after what had happened to Butler."

"And I believed I had proven myself to be more than just another John Spiro."

"Don't try to manipulate me, Artemis," she spat, quashing the surge of guilt that his retort had inspired in her. She remembered her words well enough.

_"Remind you of anyone?"_

_"I am nothing like John Spiro. He's a cold-blooded killer."_

_"Give yourself a few years. You'll get there."_

At the time she'd been justified in her comparison.

Artemis straightened his jacket. "I am simply experimenting with the device, nothing more. I am _not_ planning to mass produce and distribute it. That said, the device could have many legitimate uses."

"Legitimate uses? Like what? Helping you to break into every gold reserve on the continent?"

He looked pained at the accusation, but that, too, could be feigned, another attempt to win her sympathy, to play on her feelings for him. "Holly, we have so little time together," he said stepping forward and capturing her hand in his. He leaned closer so she that could feel the heat of his breath. "Is this really how you want to spend it?" His lips brushed against hers. She jerked back.

"Just stop it. I'm not in the mood." Displeasure and disappointment mingled in his features. The tingle of her lips only made her angrier. How dare he try to use their relationship to slither out of this?

"Holly–"

"Actions have consequences and I have work to do now. Are you going to tell me where you got your hands on fairy technology?" He did not reply and she huffed in frustration before turning to go. "It had better not have been Mulch," she said over her shoulder.

"It wasn't." And of everything he had said that night, that was the only thing she believed.

She contacted Foaly as she soon as she was out of the hotel and in the air. "Foaly, do you read me?"

"You're still wearing your suit, Holly?" he said with a whinny. "I expected you'd already be shagging Mud Boy by now."

"There's been a slight change of plans," she said and her voice left no doubt about her mood. "I need you to help me track down a fence, someone willing to share fairy technology with a certain Mud Man. Probably operating out of London."

"I'll get right on it," he said. He spared her any further jokes.

**ooo**

"Have you made any progress on tracking down where that omnitool came from?" Holly asked once Foaly had buzzed her into the ops booth.

"Seems he's already packed up shop," Foaly said. "Looks like it was a tad shady, but nothing out oft he ordinary. Artemis set up his order with false fairy account and funds. The seller would've had no idea he'd just sold something to a Mud Man. Your _boyfriend_ had it all covered." Holly groaned. It was so typical of Artemis. If she hadn't caught him working on it they'd never have know at all. "You're going to visit him in a few weeks, aren't you? Maybe you could get it back then?"

Holly rolled her eyes. "It's supposed to be a vacation, Foaly. I am _not_ going to spend it snooping around Fowl Manor looking for a disassembled omnitool."

Foaly snorted. "Right. Of course. Too busy playing with Fowl's omnitool, I suppose."

She opened her mouth to reply but broke off as her portable computer buzzed. She retrieved it from her hip pocket. A blue message – blue for business – with a video file attachment and "Opal Koboi" as the header. "Can I use one of your consoles? You'll probably need to listen to this too."

He waved her to one of his consoles and in a few moments she had opened the video file. Artemis's features appeared on the screen. He was leaning back into his chair, looking calm and collected. "Hello, Holly," he began, steepling his fingers before him. "Since I've been unable to reach you through normal means, due, I'm sure, to your busy schedule his week, I've oped to send you this recording as I feel it will make it easier to drive home my point."

Holly turned to glance at Foaly as he paused the recording. "Busy schedule?" he said.

"I haven't been answering his messages," Holly said, brow furrowed. "I'm still mad at him."

Foaly raised an eyebrow but said not a word and pressed play. "Recently," Artemis continued, "there has been a notable drop in the population of Blanding's turtles. Environmentalists have, of course, pointed to loss of habitat and pollutants as the chief cause, but the drop seems even more sudden than one would expect if these were the causes. Particularly as there has been no increase in the discovery of dead turtles."

"Get to the point, Artemis," Holly grumbled.

"I believe," Artemis continued, his recording heedless of her impatience, "that the Opal is responsible for the decrease in population and that the Opal from the past has revived the operation she had set up beneath the Extionists' headquarters all those years ago. The key issue here is senescence."

"Senescence?" Holly repeated.

"Yes, senescence," he said with a smug air and it was only then that she realized he had paused a moment earlier, anticipating her response even as he had recorded the message. And he looked so very pleased with himself. He could be infuriating in his smugness when he wanted to be. "The term 'senescence' refers to the changes that take place within an organism as it ages. While Opal's sanity is questionable, the Opal from the past surely realizes her situation. She cannot change her future; in our time, she has given up her fairy gifts and that change is irreversible. For all intents and purposes she is human now and that means she will age – and very quickly by fairy standards." Holly shifted in her seat as Artemis paused and gazed through the screen at her with those blue and hazel eyes. This was not a topic she cared to dwell on. "As far as the Opal from the past is concerned, her lifespan has been shortened by centuries so her first priority must surely be to find a way to extend that lifespan.

"Which brings us to the Blanding's turtles. The process of senescence is not as universal as is commonly held in human society. Modern studies have revealed that several species of invertebrates experience little or no senescence, that is to say, they do not age. Lobsters are a common example. It's more difficult to find examples of vertebrates, but Blanding's turtles are one. They have been documented as living over eighty years and females of that age continue to be able to reproduce. If Opal requires tissue from these creatures in order to inject her future self with their genetic material that it would explain the sudden drop in their numbers."

He paused for a moment to straighten jacket, but before he could continue, Holly stopped the recording and turned to Foaly. He was already working furiously at his keyboard. "What do you think?"

"It's either absolutely right..."

"Or?"

"Or a brilliant strategy designed to get your attention."

Holly's lips thinned to a line but she only reached out and pressed 'play.'

"I would advise that the LEP set up surveillance on key locations throughout the turtle's range. That is, if Foaly is willing to dip into his budget." Over her shoulder, she heard Folay mutter a few less than flattering things about Artemis under his breath. "We know that Opal has always been proud of her appearance. Her looks will fade as she faces the human aging process, and the human lifespan is painfully short by fairy reckoning. Certainly even the present Opal would be willing to cooperate with her past self for such a plan." Once again he stared straight into the screen, his expression blank as he said, "At my back I always hear, time's wingéd chariot hurrying near." He smiled then. "I shall leave you to contemplate the matter. I'll be waiting for your reply."

Foaly snorted. "Was he quoting poetry at the end there?"

Holly was staring at a secondary screen that she had pulled up in order to check something. "That was directed at me," she said.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," Holly replied. The words came from a human poem, older than her by centuries, called 'To His Coy Mistress.' The name made her want to slap him all the more. But more than that, it was cruel of him to remind her, to explain Opal's motivation and use it as a way of reminding her of his own short lifespan. It was cruel, and brilliant, and so thoroughly Artemis Fowl.

"So," Foaly began, "is it over?"

"Is what over?" Holly said, still focussed on the console and the lines of poetry it displayed.

"You and Artemis."

"Me and Artemis what?"

Foaly whinnied in apparent irritation. "Your _affair_ with Mud Boy. You know that running off every few weeks to shag his bones?"

Holly looked up, blinking. "We had an argument, Foaly. I never said I was leaving him."

"Does _he_ know that?"

And to that she found she did not have an answer.

**ooo**

Holly had expected a well-tailored and quite thoroughly smug Artemis to answer her call. Instead, when his image appeared on the communicator screen, she found him shirtless and sopping wet, black hair plastered to his temples. "You were in the shower?"

"Yes," he replied.

She rolled her eyes. "I'd have called back."

"Why give you the opportunity to change your mind?"

"For Frond's sake, Artemis, towel off before you drip on the communicator. _Then_ we'll talk."

"All right."

"Artemis," she said as he moved to put down the fairy communicator. He raised it so that she could see his face once more. "I'm not going to change my mind. About you, I mean." His eyes caught hers and even through this electronic medium she could feel the familiar tug of his gaze. Until a drop of water dripped from his hair to trail down the bridge of his nose. "Go dry off," she said with a laugh.

But she could see the relief in his eyes as he did.


	10. Nine: Afternoon

**Nine: Afternoon**

"Mulch Diggums, private investigator." Though he'd had the title for a good six years now, he still liked it enough to want to just feel it roll off his tongue every now and again. It was a good feeling. Finally legit... but not too legit.

He held his finger down on the buzzer about a second longer than he needed to – just for kicks – and then waited to be buzzed in. He could have shorted the lock in a matter of seconds, of course, but he was visiting a friend so a little politeness was in order.

When he walked through the door, he could not suppress a smirk – nor did he really want to if truth be told. "I didn't believe it when Foaly told me. Holly Short taking an honest to Frond vacation. What's the world coming to?"

"Hello, Mulch," Holly said as she peered into the travel bag that rested on her kitchen table in the centre of a ring of miscellaneous travel items, such as a hair brush and shampoo.

"And here I thought trolls would fly before you actually took time off from work."

Holly cast him a scathing glance and then returned to packing her bag. "It isn't easy trying to book vacation time when there are two Opals running around on the surface, you know."

"Right. LEP business and all that saving the world mumbo jumbo." He picked up a jar of moisturiser and, unscrewing the cap, sniffed it once and grimaced before putting it back down. "So where are you off to then?"

Holly screwed the cap back on and placed the moisturiser into her bag. "I'm going to visit Artemis."

"A romantic weekend with little Arty. How sweet," Mulch cooed, only barely holding back a snigger. Holly did not look up and only scowled at her travel bag. "This is where you're supposed to protest that you'd never date a Mud Man," Mulch added.

"Oh?" Holly said. "I guess I didn't study my script enough."

Mulch snorted. "The last time I said you had the hots for someone, I ended up on the wrong side of your buzz baton."

She glared at him. "It was Grub Kelp. I'd sooner date a troll."

"Or a Mud Man?"

"What are you getting at, Mulch?"

"Oh nothing, nothing. Just wondering why you packed _these_." As he spoke, he darted a hand into her bag and when he withdrew it, a pair of lacy black panties dangled off his index finger.

She snatched them back and the look she shot Mulch could have frozen a magma flare. "There is a _line_, Mulch," she said very slowly, elongating each syllable. "_You_ are on the wrong side of it."

"Now now, Holly," he said, backing up, hands raised, palms held outward. "No need to look like that. It was only a bit of fun between old friends."

"Keep it up and you won't be getting much older."

"I'm an investigator now. It's just second nature to me these days."

"Why don't you just investigate my refrigerator instead of my bag?" she snapped, pointing to the appliance in question.

"Well if you insist," he said.

Still, this was clearly something that he'd have to follow up on. Maybe if he figured it out he'd be able to get "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" to stop playing in his head whenever someone mentioned Artemis and Holly in the same sentence. It had been three years now and he was really beginning to dislike that song...

**ooo**

In the afternoon gloom, Artemis waited beneath the cover of a large, black umbrella as the leaden sky let forth a deluge of rain. The pattering of fat drops as they slid down the ribs of the umbrella to the ground, ticked off the seconds with steady precision. Where was she?

In the Tara visitors centre parking lot, Butler was idling the Bentley, and Artemis could have waited in its heated interior. Instead, here he was, watching his breath crystalize in the air before his face and feeling the damp cold burrow into his Armani jacket. She had insisted on meeting him here, at the touristy Tara visitor's centre, rather than near the actual terminal which lay on the McGraney's farm.

Artemis busied himself with running calculations on Blanding's turtle populations and the likelihood of the LEP surveillance teams actually locating Opal. She could well have moved on to another species. If she were studying lobsters then there was no hope they would be able to track her down, though it seemed unlikely that she would revert to studying invertebrates as that would be a step backwards. Bowhead whales were also an option for senescence research, but hard to come by in the wild and next to impossible to study in laboratory conditions due to their enormous size.

He stopped himself when he saw a slim figure emerge from behind a hillock. Draped in a dark green jacket with a hood pulled over her face, she could easily have passed for a child separated from her parents during their family vacation. His pulse rate jumped as he noted the black travel bag gripped in her hand. Two weeks together. Fourteen days. Three hundred and thirty-six hours. Twenty thousand, one hundred and sixty minutes – give or take.

His impatience grew as he counted the seconds it took for her to cross the space between them. Even at a trot, it seemed to take an age and he certainly wasn't getting any warmer. Already the hand that gripped the umbrella was chilled, leather glove or no, and his toes were beginning to ache in his loafers. Not that he imagined Holly was enjoying it any more than he, as fairies had a natural aversion to the cold and today she would not have the insulation of an LEP Shimmer Suit to keep her warm. His suspicions were confirmed a minute later when she finally got within earshot.

"Walk now, talk later," she said in a clipped tone as she came stand beneath his umbrella.

"As you wish," he said and led them back towards the parking lot where Butler would be waiting. It had taken a great deal of convincing to get Butler not to wait with him, but as a) a sniper waiting for Artemis at Tara was extraordinarily unlikely; b) he carried a panic button in his jacket pocket should any sort of emergency arise; and c) Butler would be able to see him through the rearview mirrors, he had finally relented.

Holding the umbrella , Artemis opened the Bentley's backseat door and allowed Holly to get in first before following himself – just as Butler had reminded him to do. While she pulled off her sodden jacket with an air fo disgust, Artemis set aside the umbrella and reached for two thermoses. He opened the first and poured the steaming liquid into the metal cap and handed it to her; he then opened the second and poured himself a capful of steaming espresso, revelling in the warmth of it on his tongue.

"What is this?" Holly said, peering into the thermos cap he had handed her.

"It's a spiced pineapple concoction Butler made up for you since, I believe, you don't drink coffee?"

She took a sip and he was pleased to see the smile that lit up her features. "It's wonderful. But then I can't be surprised if it was Butler's doing. Thank you," she said, catching the bodyguard's eye in the rearview mirror.

"Artemis wanted to make sure you were comfortable as soon as you got here."

Artemis was gratified when she turned then to smile at him as well. "You look tired," he said, noting the bags under her eyes.

She nodded. "I'm usually sound asleep at this time of day. I downed a couple of energy drinks on the shuttle, but the change in schedule's going to take a few days to adjust to."

Savouring the sensation of the hot coffee sliding down his esophagus and into his stomach, Artemis took in the sight before him: Holly Short, dressed not in an LEP standard issue Shimmer Suit or a pilfered human child's outfit to be used as a hasty disguise, but in a fitted green shirt and khaki slacks, topped off with a pair of athletic shoes inscribed with the Gnommish letters of the manufacturer's logo.

"I'm very glad to see you," he said. She smiled once again and settled herself in the crook of his arm.

Two weeks and he intended to make the best of every minute of it. All twenty thousand, one hundred and sixty minutes of it.

**ooo**

Shielded, Holly hovered in the shadowy corridor, watching him. Not because he was up to anything suspicious (she had made it quite clear that if she found him doing anything sneaky she would pack up and head home without a word), but for the simple pleasure of watching him move.

Upon arriving at Fowl Manor, she had dropped her bag in Artemis's room and promptly fallen asleep on his bed. The few hours' rest had done her good and it was dusk when she woke and got up in search of him. The silence had been unnerving; it reminded her far too much of her first visit to Fowl Manor when she had freed herself from her cell and wandered the corridors, past vaulted rooms, all empty. The manor had seemed mausoleum-like then, all the more so for the blue rinse she had known was coming. It had been a tomb in the making.

Things were different now, but the silence remained unsettling and she had been relieved when she had heard notes of music begin wafting through the hallways. She had followed them like breadcrumbs to a parlour where Artemis sat at a grand piano set at an angle to the door. From where she stood, he was outlined in profile against the pale curtains in the window behind him, and she had a fine view of his hands as they traipsed along the black and white keys.

On her way here, she had passed the Fowl family portraits again. They still had an unpleasant effect as they scowled down at her, but the pairs of blue eyes that she had once thought to be suspicious and glittering now seemed only sharp and attentive. She had one of those eyes herself now.

His fingers danced lightly over the keys. Something classical, she imagined, but she didn't keep track of that sort of thing. Instead, she all but ignored the music itself as her eyes traced the movements of his hands. He had beautiful hands, his fingers long and slender – elfin really. They were different species, it was true, but human proportions were nearly identical to that of elves, though on a larger scale of course.

The way his fingers gently caressed the keys made her shiver, the lightest touch calling out the soft, fleeting notes or, as his feet pumped the pedals, lingering, drawn out tones. He teased out their deepest secrets, calling from the instrument something resonant and powerful – or something fragile as his fingers darted up the white spine of the keyboard to flit over the highest notes.

His caresses increased in ardour as the music came to a crescendo, fingers moving at a quickened pace over the white tabs. His hands rose and dipped, alternately stroked and pounded the keys, moving with such quickness that even Holly, who by no means considered herself an afficionado of classical music, could not but admire his dexterity.

It was only as the final notes of the piece faded away that Holly moved out of the shadows, striding across the room, slowing the vibration of her molecules as she did, to once again reenter the visible spectrum. Artemis turned to face her a smile on his lips, apparently unfazed by her abrupt appearance. "Good evening, Holly. Did you sleep well?"

She nodded but her eyes were drawn again to those slender fingers, his hands resting now in his lap. She reached out and took his left hand in hers, inspecting it. It was the hand that had been altered during his first venture into the time stream, so that his index and middle fingers had switched places. "Is it more difficult to play with your hand like this?" she asked.

He titled his head, brow slightly furrowed. "It required some getting used to initially, but over the subsequent years it's had a negligible impact on my coordination." For a few moments, she continued to inspect his hands. "Holly," he said, reaching out to tilt her chin up so he could look her in the face, "is there something on your mind?"

"Yes," she said, an impish smile curling her lips. "Something." She tugged him to his feet. "Come on, let's put those beautiful hands of yours to good use."


	11. Ten: Aftershave

**Ten: Aftershave**

Holly yawned and stretched out her spine, luxuriating in the silk sheets and comforter that encased her in a cocoon of warmth. Grey light oozed in through the curtains, but she didn't mind the dreary weather when she was curled up inside. No, she thought with a contented sigh, she didn't mind one bit.

The sound of running water caught her attention and she shifted beneath the blankets, angling herself until she could see into the bathroom, whose door remained ajar. Artemis stood at the sink, like a marble figure for his all his paleness, save the pair of red boxers he sported.

Leaning on one elbow, Holly pulled the blankets around herself and watched as Artemis squirted a glob of shaving cream into his palm and began to spread it over his jaw with slow, circular motions. Once he'd covered his face in cream, he reached for his razor and began making long, even strokes down his jaw with the kind of calculated precision that characterized everything he did. After a few strokes, he dipped his razor into the water in the sink and then began again.

"Good morning, Holly," he said, without even looking her way.

"Good morning, Arty." Attention focussed on his reflection in the mirror, he let the razor slide down his throat. As he dipped the blade into the sink again, he paused to glance at her with a raised eyebrow. "What is it with you and red?" she asked.

"I like red," he replied, and even with white cream plastered on his face that smile looked dangerous. "Did the shower wake you?"

"No, I was already awake. I heard you in your study. I thought you were talking to someone but it was just one of your diary recordings, wasn't it?"

"Yes," he said and brought the blade down in a long swoop.

Holly titled her head and continued to observe the morning ritual. Fairies had very handy portable lasers that could remove unwanted facial hair in a matter of seconds with no risk at all. The idea of running a naked blade over one's skin was not one Holly relished. "Why do you keep a journal anyway? Seems like a huge security risk. Not very Fowl-like at all."

"It's well encrypted. I began keeping it after you returned my father to us. I was disturbed by the change in him and began the diary as a means of reflecting on the situation. I was quite conflicted at the time." He raised the blade to his face but then paused. "I kept it up even after the mind wipe."

"What do you talk about?"

He took a few more long strokes down his neck and then, "Whatever catches my interest." His eyes were fixed on the mirror as he reached for a spot just below his jaw. Two more strokes and he paused to wash off the blade. "But I suspect what you really wish to know," and here he glanced in her direction, "is whether I talk about _you_."

"Well do you?"

"Yes."

She didn't ask him what he said about her in these recordings; she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction. "Who do you record them for?"

"Hmm?" he murmured, making a few extra passes at the area below his chin.

"Don't people always have an imagined audience when they keep journals?

"It's hardly a journal in the conventional sense." He stretched out his neck and ran his hand over the skin, checking for any neglected stubble. "Originally, I had myself in mind as a prospective audience, as I thought a recording would be an effective remedy in the face of an LEP mind wipe. Once I was in fact mind wiped, I decided it would be useful to document my ideas for my future progeny." Holly shifted, goose bumps on her skin in spite of the warmth of the covers. "Now however–"

"Now neither of those is likely," she cut in, the smile gone from her face.

"Yes," he said, taking quick swipes at his chin. How he could manage this feat without cutting himself was a mystery to her. "Now that the twins have relieved me of the responsibilities associated with being sole heir, I no longer have to concern myself with such matters."

"Liar," she whispered, her gaze distant. She looked up at him again as she heard a hiss and a muttered curse. Artemis was dabbing at his upper lip with a tissue. Holly huffed and rolled out of bed. "You and your primitive Mud Men rituals," she grumbled as she rubbed at her bare arms and crossed the room to join him. "Don't you have electric shavers yet?"

"They don't cut as close to the grain and the result is that one has to shave more frequently. Very inefficient."

"Here," she said, holding out her hand. "Let me." He bent down on one knee so that she could reach his face. She lay her fingers on his skin and whispered, "heal," to summon a single spark. It danced over the cut for an instant and sealed it. Artemis's lips twitched, nose wrinkling. "What?"

"It tickled," he said, and the gravity with which he made the reply could not but bring a smile to her lips.

She let her fingers wander down his still damp cheek for a moment. "Artemis?"

"Yes?"

"You wouldn't nick yourself just to distract me, would you?"

He straightened. "I would think you of all people would know that I'm hardly a glutton for physical discomfort."

"True," Holly said, fingers trailing down his arm. "But you knew I would heal you."

"Such machinations first thing in the morning? Really, Holly, I've not even had my morning coffee."

She rolled her eyes. "Artemis–" But her sharp retort died on her lips as he smiled and held her gaze. She wondered sometimes if he had elf blood in him to be able to her hold her attention that way, with only the force of his stare.

"You seem to be under the impression that I harbour regrets about the limitations our relationship places on us. I can promise you that that's not the case."

"You're young."

He sniffed. "My age has little bearing on my intellect and the breadth of my knowledge and experience. Surely you have a better argument than that?"

"You're _still_ trying to distract me."

"As you wish. The journal. I haven't decided yet what to do with it. Perhaps I'll destroy it eventually, or I might use the recordings as material for my memoirs one day."

"Memoirs?"

"I could have them published posthumously. Don't you think they would sell well among the People?"

"You'd make a killing. You wouldn't be around to enjoy your profits, though," she said soberly.

"Obviously I would leave the royalties to you. Without you there would have been considerably less subject matter."

And because it hurt too much to imagine a time when he might not be there, Holly pressed her lips to his.

Only to draw back a moment later with a grimace. "Ugh. Shaving cream."

"Holly!" he called after her as she turned and made for the door.

She paused. "I'm going down to get some breakfast. I'll see you later when you don't taste like soap."

Artemis was almost certain that he heard her mutter something about 'primitive Mud Men rituals' as she left.


	12. Eleven: After Image

**Eleven: After Image**

Foaly had laughed when, before leaving for her vacation, she'd asked him for a favour. "Off to visit your partner in crime?" he'd said with a snicker.

"I leave the crime to Artemis."

"Cops and robbers then?"

"Look can you do it or not?"

He'd snorted. "Of course I can do it. What do you want me to burn?"

Her answer had put a grin on his face.

Curled up among the throw pillows on the couch, Holly revelled in the normalness of it all. For once she and Artemis were going to do something regular couples did on an evening off: they were going to watch a movie.

"I still don't see why you can't tell me what it is," Artemis said as he loaded the disc into the DVD player (Foaly had muttered a few things about primitive human video technology when he'd prepared it).

"It'll be more fun if it's a surprise."

"I'm not fond of surprises."

"Control freak," she muttered in Gnommish. He shot her a look over his shoulder and she winked. "You'll find out in a minute anyway."

"I trust it doesn't involve juvenile wizards or adolescent vampires?"

"Oh no," Holly said, a sly smile curling her lips, "this is much, much better."

Remote control in hand, he joined her on the couch, though she had to snuggle up close to him before he took the hint and put his arm around her shoulders. He pressed the button and, after a second of whirring, the player read Foaly's homemade disk and the movie began.

It opened with a flashy action sequence, just the sort of thing you could expect from this type of film: an explosion, followed by raging flames and smoke billowing from a sleek-looking building. While sirens blared, the shot moved in closer so the viewers could read the lettering on the upper story of the building, "Koboi Laboratories." The "K" had been knocked askew by the explosion.

Her eyes darted to Artemis to catch the small smile on his lips. He'd figured it out of course. Dramatic music drowned out the sirens and the movie title sprang up onto the screen in big golden letters: "The Arctic Incident."

His arm squeezed her shoulders. "You're right, this will much more interesting."

The Gnommish letters melted away and a newsreel began to play.

"Tonight the B'Wa Kell have staked their claim to the East Bank by torching a warehouse used by Koboi Laboratories. Apparently the pixie with the golden touch refused to pay their protection fee." Static and then a second news reel. "Controversy today outside Police Plaza as the public protest the LEP's failure to deal with the goblin problem. Many ancient houses have been put out of business by the B'Wa Kell's racketeering. Most heavily targeted have been Koboi Laboratories, who have suffered six counts of sabotage in the past month alone."

The view moved in on the newsreel, focussing on the angry crowd outside Police Plaza and then sliding into it to settle over the heads of the protesters. "Are you getting all of this?" Holly asked. He was fluent in Gnommish of course, but mostly through reading. He'd had very limited practice with spoken Gnommish.

Artemis nodded. "Yes. It's nothing too highbrow so far," he added, his lips quirked.

"I can translate for you when the goblins show up. They tend to speak in goblin cant."

"That would be most helpful."

The camera was now turning to follow a tall form shouldering its way through the crowd. It was dressed in the green uniform of an LEP officer, with a captain's acorns displayed prominently on its collar. Its helmet had the visor set to reflect so one could not see its face.

Finally the figure managed to make it through the angry crowd and climb the steps up to Police Plaza. The camera followed it into the lobby where it emitted a groan and finally pulled off its helmet to reveal a female face. The elf shook out her long, red tresses, which bobbed dramatically around her as if the film had switched to slow motion. Her features were delicate, her eyelashes long and luscious, her ears, slender and pointed. For a moment she pursed lips that were full and red.

Artemis chuckled. "That's supposed to be _you_?"

"Mm-hmm." Holly reached over to press the pause button on the remote. "Her name is Skylar Peat, three-time AMP winner." Holly shook her head as the frozen image of the fictional Holly Short loomed large on the screen. "I don't know how she gets all that hair to fit into her helmet. Or those ears."

"They're quite remarkable," Artemis noted.

"Those aren't real."

"Not real?"

Holly nodded. "The tips have been surgically altered to be longer and more slender. It was all over the gossip rags five or ten years ago."

"Really," Artemis said, his voice oozing fascination. She should have known. "Is that a trait male elves look for?"

"Some." He considered this for a few moments while she peered again at the screen, her brow furrowed."I'm told I should be flattered. She's very popular."

"Ears are not a factor that typically comes into play in human aesthetics."

Holly snorted. "The ears aren't the only things that've been altered."

When she tore her eyes from the screen, she realized Artemis was looking at her quite intently. "I'm hardly a suitable judge of elfin standards of beauty," he began. "However, I've noted over the past several years that elfin and human proportions are nearly identical. I'd venture that among the fairy races, elves are biologically the most closely related to humans. Goblins are not even mammalian; demons originate from the moon; sprites and dwarves are so far removed I'm not certain where they would fit on a cladogram; and gnomes and pixies are significantly different in proportion."

Holly rolled her eyes. "Trust Artemis Fowl to turn an action movie into a biology lesson."

"I'm simply trying to point out–"

She put a finger over his lips. "That you think I'm pretty. Thank you, Arty," she said, smiling, and kissed him before turning the movie back on. "Just wait till you see Foaly. All tanned, rippling muscle, and shiny pelt. As if any normal centaur would bother to sim-tan."

**ooo**

Artemis had a few words when he finally got to see the digitally-created version of himself. The film version of Artemis Fowl was a shade darker than an albino, with features that seemed to be frozen in a permanent leer. When interrogated by the fairies, he was smug, but when faced with the goblins in the arctic, his knees were knocking together for the duration of the scene. It was Holly and Root who were clearly the heroes of the hour, Artemis and Butler playing only minor roles in the entire incident.

They had somehow made it to the final scene of the movie where all the loose ends were being wrapped up and digital Artemis was stammering his thank-yous to Captain Short for the rescue of his father.

Holly could not suppress a smirk at the distaste obvious on her lover's features. He groaned and she shushed him. "This is the best part."

"You did a good thing here, Artemis Fowl," announced the captain, her long hair being tousled artistically by a conveniently-timed breeze. "I guess I won't have to shoot you. For now." The camera swung around in time for the viewer to see Artemis's digital Adam's apple bob as he swallowed hard, his face paler than ever.

Holly felt the whoosh of air as the real Artemis huffed, his body rigid with derision. She laughed and squeezed his knee as the credits began to roll.

"Perhaps next time," Artemis said, "we should watch the recent adaptation of _The Lord of the Rings_ and you can see what humans believe elves are. They're very elegant. No shooting blasters or piloting shuttles or punching people in the face."

She turned and patted him on the cheek. "You'd get bored with someone like that."

He snagged her hand and held it up for inspection, his thumb running along the base of her trigger finger, circling the faint scar where the finger had been severed during their venture into the arctic. The movie had not done the scene justice.

"Am I right in assuming that you could heal this scar if you wished to?" She nodded. "And yet you don't choose to."

"No. I prefer to be able to see it."

"Why?"

"For the same reason this blue eye of yours is still blue and not surgically tinted. It's a part of me. A part of us."

He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to the scar before moving on to each of her knuckles. His other hand had snuck beneath the hem of her shirt and was sliding up her spine, sending a delightful thrill through her. He pulled her closer, leaning down to bring his lips to her throat, her jaw. Her hand meanwhile slithered into the collar of his shirt to extract the leather thong he still wore and the gold coin that hung on it.

She fingered the coin, smiling, until he drew back, one eyebrow raised in a silent question. "You really did blow on that spark of decency," she said, looking into his eyes.

His lips curled into a sly smile. "I'm afraid, however, that all my thoughts at the moment are positively _in_decent."

"Well," she murmured, distracted by the way his fingers tickled along the bare skin of her back, "I suppose you can't be expected to behave _all_ the time."


	13. Twelve: Afterthought

**Twelve: Afterthought**

He had just made his first move when Holly entered the room. Pawn to e4.

She made her way over to his desk and peered at his computer screen as Black responded with pawn to e5, meeting his pawn head to head, leaving them in a deadlock. Artemis smiled, pleased. Out of the corner of his eye he could see her brow crinkle as he moved the next closest pawn to f4 where Black would be able to snatch it up if his opponent chose to do so. Once again, he smiled as Black took his pawn.

"I thought you were supposed to be good at this game," Holly commented. "Why did you let your piece get taken right at the start?"

Artemis darted a glance at Holly before continuing to play. "It's called the King's Gambit." She raised an eyebrow. "In chess, a gambit is when a player offers a piece to be sacrificed in the hope of gaining a tactical advantage later in the game."

"And your opponent fell for it?"

"Being an expert chess player, my opponent almost certainly recognised the opening but decided it could be defended against."

Holly groaned. "So this is as much a head game as anything else."

Artemis nodded and played his next move. Black responded without hesitation. "It's much more interesting in person as one is able to gauge the reaction of one's opponent. Played over the internet, the game becomes only a duel of strategy and tactics; it drains the game of much of its human element and a great deal of its interest."

Standing on the tips of her toes, Holly leaned closer to get a better look at the screen, her hand coming to rest on his thigh for balance. He was nineteen years old; it was difficult for him to have her hand there without thinking of where else it could be and what else it could be doing. "You mean you don't get to see the look on your opponent's face when you trounce him – or her in this case? I assume you're playing Miss Paradizo?"

"Yes. Though when we play over the internet we play short, timed games in order to keep things interesting."

"So am I distracting you then?"

"No," he replied immediately as he made his next move in the game. He glanced at her. "I assure you I can converse and play chess at once."

"Who usually wins?"

"I win approximately eight-two percent of the time." He moved again: knight to h4.

Holly glanced up at him dubiously. "How do you know she's not letting you win?"

He considered this a moment as he waited for Black to respond. "I rely on her pride. Minerva is one who wishes to impress and thus gain recognition. Demureness is not in her character."

"Still, she is an adolescent girl." The screen, which rested on the desk, was above the level of Holly's head. As she leaned close to him again to get a better look, he could feel the curve of one breast, pressed against his arm. His lips thinned to a line and he tried to focus on the game. Knight to f5.

"Does that bother you?" he said archly as he tried to ignore the way her fingers were drumming a staccato beat on his thigh.

At this Holly turned from the screen to look him straight in the face; he shifted his attention from the game to meet her gaze. "Are you asking me if I'm jealous?"

"Are you?"

"No," she said, smiling. "I don't think I need to be jealous of Minerva Paradizo." As she drew away from him, she reached out and patted him on the belly – just below his naval. "In fact I think I have your king just where I want him."

As he watched her saunter towards the exit, he realized two things, that a) it was his turn again, and b) it was very difficult to concentrate on a chess match when most of the blood in your body was no longer concentrated in your cranium.

"Holly!" he called after her with considerable consternation.

She didn't even turn, only waved. "Enjoy your game!"

**ooo**

"Captain Short, I don't believe I've ever seen you so relaxed."

Curled up in a stuffed chair, book in hand, Holly glanced up and smiled as Butler padded into the room, silent as a leopard on the prowl. She had packed two novels for her vacation: one, an old favourite by Horri Antowitz, and the other, the latest thriller by an author whose name she would probably forget five minutes after setting the book down. "It's been a long time since I had a real vacation," she replied. And then, lips quirked, "Especially one with gourmet cooking included."

"It's my pleasure. And it's good to see you under happier circumstances than we're used to."

"Yes, no one's tried to kill us in months. It seems too good to last," Holly said with a laugh.

"I'm sorry the weather hasn't been better, though," Butler said, casting a sideways glance at the window.

A few paces away, the rain was pattering on the windowpane and Holly revelled in the sound of it. Rain. Real rain. It was amazing to wake up in the morning and not know what the weather would be like, how cold it would be, if it would sunny or pouring. Granted, at this time of year it was almost always chilly and wet in the old country, but it remained far less predictable than in Haven City where the temperature was a constant and weather was non-existent.

Holly shook her head. "I don't mind. We don't have weather underground so it's a treat really."

Butler nodded. For a moment they both remained silent, eyes on the bespattered windowpane until, without looking at her, Butler spoke again. "Are you looking forward to getting back home?"

"Home?" Holly repeated. "Hmm..." She set down her book and sighed. "Not really. It'll be nice to get back to work but... no, I don't miss Haven."

A smile flitted over Butler's features for the barest of instants. "The honeymoon phase doesn't last forever, you know."

Holly quirked an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting that if Artemis and I spend too much time together we'll get bored with each other?"

"Not precisely."

"Butler," Holly began, straightening in her chair, "I know how things work. I'm older than you and Artemis put together!"

"But young for a fairy," he replied.

"Yes. For a fairy." She set her book down on the lamp table next to the chair and for a long moment peered out the window. "The thing is that... Artemis is part of me. He has been for a long time – maybe always. When we're apart it's..." She shook her head. "I love my work and my friends underground, but this feels more like home to me than Haven does anymore. And yes," she added, noting the hint of a wry smile on Butler's face, "the irony isn't lost on me. Not by a longshot." Now Butler was smiling at something else, something behind her. She craned her neck to look up and found Artemis leaning over the top of her chair, looking down on her, smiling.

She wanted to make a snide comment for he was looking far too pleased with himself, but instead she found herself staring into those blue and hazel eyes again. "I'm glad you've made yourself comfortable here," he said very quietly. And then, with a slight crinkle of his brow, "Even if you cause me to lose my chess matches."


	14. Thirteen: Aftershock, part one

**Thirteen: Aftershock, part one**

She was in a track suit, doing some preliminary stretches, when she realized she was being watched. As she continued her warm up, allowing her limbs to grow limber before she headed out into the cool morning for a run, she could feel the weight of that stare, like that of a hunter, weighing, assessing – or perhaps like that of a lover, yearning, admiring. Perhaps both.

"Are you going to stare at me all morning or do you have something to say?" she asked without turning.

"You're not really going out there are you?" It was grey and drizzling, much as it had been for the past several mornings.

Holly shrugged, turning to face Artemis. "I've got to keep in form even on vacation."

"And here I thought you'd had enough exertion last night."

"Hmm. That was lovely, Arty," she said with a quirked eyebrow, "but it's really not the same as a good run."

He glanced out the window into the grey gloom of the morning and grimaced, looking utterly unconvinced. "Come on," she said, crossing the room to snag him by the front of his shirt. "Get your jacket. You're coming with me."

"I beg your pardon?"

She rolled her eyes. "You haven't left the house in three days. Not once!"

"There was no need," he replied cooly.

"Need? Artemis, honestly you should be the one living underground. You probably wouldn't even noticed the recycled air."

"I have work to do."

"What work? We're on vacation."

"Very well," he replied with a sigh. As she watched him fetch his jacket and gloves, she was almost certain he had agreed just to avoid answering her question.

**ooo**

With Artemis tagging along, her run turned into something more akin to a leisurely walk, but she didn't mind all that much. Their two weeks together were drawing to a close. Soon she would have to return to Haven and gods only knew how long it would be until they would see each other again at all, let alone for an extended period of time.

For a long while they walked in silence beneath the drooping branches of willows and horse chestnuts, Artemis grimacing whenever a drop or two slid from the wet branches and caught him in the face. No, she supposed he really wouldn't miss living aboveground.

"Are you hiding something, Artemis?" she blurted all at once, for he was being quiet even by his standards.

He flashed an incisor. "Holly, after all these years you should know the answer to that."

She huffed. "And the answer is you're always hiding something."

He shrugged. "I always have projects in the works and I detest revealing my plans before they're ready. Must you always assume the worst?"

She cast him a sideways glance and caught him with a peculiar look on his face, as if he had an unpleasant taste on his tongue. It certainly didn't make him look more sincere. "Artemis..."

They had wandered again toward a section of the old fortifications. As they drew nearer, she hopped up onto the stones so that she could look him in the eye. She opened her mouth to speak but he placed a finger over her lips before she could utter a word. "Please, Holly. I assure you I'm not at present working on anything dastardly."

Her lips thinned to a line, and for a long moment she regarded his features in silence, hands on her hips. Finally, she sighed. "All right."

He smiled. "Good. In that case..." And there he leaned forward, arms wrapping around her waist and drawing her closer to press a heated kiss to her lips.

She closed her eyes and let herself relax against him – until something jarred her back to reality and she jerked away from him. "Artemis, what is _that_?" she demanded.

His lips quirked. "I'd think you'd be intimately acquainted with that by now."

She scowled at him. "I mean in your mouth."

"Ah," he said, straightening. "That. I suppose–"

But what he supposed she never found out as something struck her, sending a sharp pain through her arm, and then the world seemed to grow dim. The last thing she saw was Artemis's hand darting into his jacket pocket even as he slumped to his knees.

**ooo**

Foaly yawned and stretched out his hindquarters, glad that this long shift was finally coming to an end. Caballine hated it when he had to work late. He was just packing up his things when a signal came in from a very special line he kept open at all times – just in case.

"Mud Boy, do you know what time it is here?" he said as he opened the com line.

"Foaly," said a voice that was quite certainly not Artemis's, "this is Butler. I'm afraid we have a problem."

Foaly rubbed at his tired eyes. "What kind of problem?"

"Artemis and Holly are missing."

Foaly gave a horsey laugh. "Missing?" he scoffed. "They're probably off on the grounds somewhere having a good shag. No need to panic."

"Now listen to me," Butler said and the steel in his voice suddenly made Foaly recall just how large the Mud Man really was. "They are _not_ on the grounds. I've had Artemis carrying a panic button ever since Opal Koboi got loose. He and Holly went out for a walk and didn't come back and he pressed that button. Our security system didn't register a thing. Which means there was fairy technology involved."

"D'Arvit," Foaly mumbled, fingers already racing over the keyboards.

"My thoughts exactly," said Butler.

**ooo**

Artemis's eyes fluttered open, but he did not move. _Remain still_, he told himself, though his instinct was to look around, to learn where he was and whether Holly was there with him, to call out to her. _Familiarise yourself with your environs; analyse the situation._ That was what Butler had taught him to do, though it took all of his steely will to still the frantic beating of his heart and simply open his eyes.

His world was crisscrossed by a silver mesh that stretched out as far as his eyes could see. He was in a cage, lying on his side. Across the room, he could see other cages, all empty. Above him, at the corner of his vision, he could make out a yellow cylinder with bold, red Gnommish characters on it: _In case of emergency, pull tab, press button_. A fire extinguisher. A fairy fire extinguisher. And yet the rest of what he glimpsed seemed to include items too primitive to be fairy technology: the cages had mechanical locks; wires snaked out of pieces of equipment.

Very slowly, he shifted so that he could get a better look around. There were two doors at opposite ends of the room. Perhaps five feet away was what appeared to be an operating pallet and he was reminded of the one he himself had lain on in Opal's facility beneath the Extinctionists' compound. He raised himself until he could see a slim, nut brown hand, shackled to the table at the wrist.

_Holly!_

He bit his lip and kept silent. The hand moved, straining against the bonds and he heard a long string of muttered curses, all in Gnommish. Like most officers, Holly could employ a colourful vocabulary when she was so inclined. She fell silent as the door across the room creaked open. He watched that hand ball into a fist, and then a moment later he, too, could see the figure that strode into the room.

Draped in a pristine lab coat was a woman, short for a human but too tall for a fairy. Her jet black hair hung limply around features that had become more angular these past few years, but there was no doubt that this was indeed Opal Koboi, the Opal Koboi who had had a human pituitary glad implanted in her brain.

She crossed the room, coming to stand near his cage. "Hello, Captain Short. So good to see you again."

"Koboi," Holly snarled.

"It has been a while, has it not?"

"What do you want?" Holly said, straining against her bonds until a ribbon of blood dribbled from her wrist and a blue spark leaped to heal the wound.

"No need to play the fool. I'm sure you can guess what I'm after."

"Oh yes," Holly said, sounding exasperated – he could just imagine her rolling her eyes. "Revenge. Of course. Silly me."

"Among other things," Opal said, in languid tones that sent a chill down his spine. Clearly she had something nefarious planned for Holly and himself and was relishing it, drawing things out to torment them as much as she could. But a good hunter knew better than to play with its prey, especially dangerous prey such as himself. "Captain, you're out of uniform," Opal tutted. "This means there's no way for your friends at the LEP to track you. Very careless."

Artemis stayed very still, watching through the slits of his eyes. He had been dealing with Opal for six years now, long enough to know that her schemes had a flair for melodrama. She would not proceed until she believed him to be conscious.

"As soon as your friend here is awake again we can proceed."

"With what?" Holly snapped.

Again, Opal paused near his cage. She reached into her pocket, muttering as first a ballpoint pen, a handkerchief, a then a shuttle starter chip emerged. She set all of these down on the counter top to her left and then reached into the pocket once more to finally pull out a small glass tube sealed with a stopper. Inside was what appeared to be a brown slug-like creature with a dozen spines. Revulsion rose up in Artemis as Opal's entire plan unfolded itself in his mind's eye. He had to act fast. Fast and quiet.

Opal moved to stand at the end of the operating pallet, back to Artemis, and held up the tube so that Holly could see its contents. "You, Captain Short will have the honour of being my first fairy test subject, the first to contribute your DNA to enhance my life expectancy."

And while Holly was telling Opal in the most colourful of terms what she could do with her "honour," Artemis set to work.

He reached a finger into his mouth to unhook the brace set against his upper teeth, the one Holly had, much to his dismay, noticed that morning when he'd kissed her, perhaps a little more fervently than had been wise given the circumstances. The brace required more fine-tuning as it did not yet fit as exactly as he would have liked and it had proven uncomfortable and awkward to keep in place. Even so, it had served its purpose.

Extracting it from his mouth, he then freed the tiny device it held, the ominitool he'd been working on so meticulously for weeks now, stripping it down to the barest of components so that it could be more easily concealed. Opal was still droning on about her plan rather than getting right down to it – toying with them, as always. She could always be counted on to waste time in order to satisfy her own vanity.

Artemis held the omnitool to the lock on his cage. The click was barely discernable over the sound of Holly's voice. And then, a plan– crude but effective, he hoped – already in place, he crawled out of the cage and snatched up what he would need.

_Please understand, Holly. You must understand..._

**ooo**

Opal glowered down at Holly, holding the slug that would, apparently, be extracting her DNA. Now, sharing DNA with Artemis by swapping eyes in the time stream was one thing; becoming one on a molecular level with Opal Koboi was another entirely and Holly let her know in very clear terms what she thought of the proposal.

"It will be a fitting end to you and Fowl," Opal snarled.

"Careful, Koboi," Holly warned, "your face might stick that way."

"Enough of your insolence, elf!" Koboi snapped. "It's all your fault. All of it! Look at _this_!" she said, pointing to a spot just beneath her left cheekbone.

Holly peered at her for a long moment. "Look at what?" she said finally.

"A crease! Already my skin is becoming less elastic. I am withering away before your very eyes."

"What about Artemis?" she asked. If he was still free there was a chance of escape.

Opal dashed all her hopes. "Oh don't worry. He's in the cage over there," she said gesturing vaguely behind her. "I won't proceed until he wakes up. It wouldn't be nearly as satisfying if he didn't get to watch. First you. Then him."

_Or so she thinks._ Holly held still, freezing her expression so as not to betray the triumph that welled up in her as she glimpsed movement behind Opal. She had to suppress a groan as Artemis's manoeuverings caused a good deal of clattering and Opal spun on her heel, hand darting to the pocket of her lab coat.

Artemis's voice was like arctic wind. "Do _not_ move."

Opal froze, hand in her pocket where Holly assumed she must have a weapon of some sort. It took a moment for Holly to truly grasp the absurdity of the scene. Artemis stood a few feet away from Opal, hand poised on the big yellow release button of a standard issue fire extinguisher. A typical extinguisher would emit a jet of expanding foam that would interrupt the chemical reaction of the fire. It would slow Opal down, that was certain, but it would not stop her.

"You've got nowhere to go," Opal said in a tone that, though her back was turned, suggested to Holly that she had a smirk on her face.

"So you think." And with one of his vampire smiles, Artemis raised his free hand, displaying a starter chip for a shuttle.

"You've never piloted a shuttle," Opal scoffed. "You wouldn't be able to get it off the ground."

But Artemis was still smiling. "I've spent enough time in fairy shuttles over the years to observe the basic procedures. And besides," he added with a shrug, "all modern fairy shuttles are programmed with an autopilot so one need not have great proficiency to perform basic manoeuvres."

Holly's eyes flicked to the hand that remained in Opal's pocket as her arm twitched. She must surely have a blaster. One wrong move and Artemis would wind up unconscious again and they'd be worse off than ever. But this was Artemis, she reminded herself, and he was not wont to make wrong moves.

"Please remove your hand from your pocket," Artemis said, eyes fixed on Opal. He never so much as glanced to where Holly lay on the operating pallet, but she watched him and the expression he wore was one she had not seen in years, one she had last seen on the face of a twelve-year-old boy who had sought to kidnap a fairy.

Opal slowly removed her hand, raising it, palm up, yet she remained oddly calm and that troubled Holly who, with her wrists and ankles still shackled could do little more than raise her head. "I have had enough of this. You may use that extinguisher, but you'll only buy yourself seconds, not enough time to release your friend." She backed up several paces as she spoke. Artemis matched her step for step until he was standing next to Holly.

"I realize that," Artemis said with equal calm. "Sadly, sometimes in life as in chess, a gambit is necessary to further the game."

Holly's heart dropped.

_In chess, a gambit is when a player offers a piece to be sacrificed in the hope of gaining a tactical advantage later in the game._

She could remember him explaining it in that calm, dispassionate voice he used when playing professor. He had used that same voice now.

Opal laughed shrilly. "This is delightful. After all the times Captain Short has saved your life you would just leave her to me?"

Artemis shrugged. "It's the king who must not be taken, after all. Everything else is expendable." He glanced down at her on the pallet. "You understand, don't you, Holly?" She stared up at him, mouth hanging open, not believing what she was hearing. A gambit? What was he thinking in that devious mind of his?

His hand motioned with the extinguisher towards Opal again. "Did you ever wonder, Holly," he said, without looking at her, eyes still fixed on Opal, "if there could be something more?"

"More?" she repeated, brows creased.

And then, hand still clasping the extinguisher, still pointing it in Opal's direction, Artemis leaned down and kissed Holly.

**ooo**

When Artemis straightened a moment later, Holly was staring at him, eyes wide, mouth agape. _Please understand, Holly._

Her jaw snapped shut. "Don't touch me, Fowl," she snarled between gritted teeth.

Artemis heaved a sigh. "Ah well. I suppose not."

And then, just as Opal's hand, which had been creeping back towards her pocket, dived for her weapon, Artemis pressed the button on the extinguisher, releasing a jet of purple foam. The foam enveloped Opal, leaving her coughing and cursing but her hand was still in the vicinity of her pocket and as the jet of foam quickly sputtered and died, Artemis threw down the empty canister and bolted towards the exit.

He was banking on the facility being relatively small and having a simple layout. He was not disappointed. After following the main corridor for some minutes, he found himself at a shuttle port where a small transport shuttle was docked. Wasting no time, he took the starter chip he had snatched up from where Opal had left it on the counter, and unlocked the door to the pilot's compartment. Already he could hear the patter of footfalls in the corridor. Opal had followed, refusing to simply be satisfied with having captured one of them. She would have both of them. It was typical of her. Brilliant, methodical, but unable to control her own vanity, her emotions, whereas he had had to shunt his aside if his plan was to have any hope of success.

Artemis scanned the interior of the cabin, quickly taking note of the controls and comparing them to those Holly had piloted during their many adventures. Sitting down in the pilot's seat he took a deep breath and let his fingers fly over the controls. He could not have spent all that time watching Holly fly without picking up a thing or two...

**ooo**

Opal Koboi seethed as she felt the sting of the fire retardants on the bare skin of her face. The chemicals were completely non-toxic but would almost certainly contribute to the already evident degradation of her skin's natural smoothness and silky texture. Again and again Fowl had managed to outmanoeuver her due to the incompetence of her subordinates, but today would be different. There was no one else here to ruin her plans. She already had Captain Short, and Fowl would be next.

She moved at a steady trot down the corridor to the shuttle port. The look on Holly Short's face at the end had been priceless. Opal could not have planned it better herself. Not only would she have the elf's DNA to help rejuvenate her own molecular structure, but the captain was now completely demoralized, abandoned by the very human she had sought to protect all these years. It was perfect!

Blaster held out before her, she approached the entranceway to the shuttleport with caution. Already she could hear the low whirr of the shuttle's engines. This time he would have nothing to hide behind, while she had the butt of a blaster in her palm. And though normally she did prefer to leave such matters to her underlings, today she would take particular pleasure in shooting Artemis Fowl herself.

A smile of utter delight broke onto her face as she stepped into the shuttleport. The shuttle had taken off certainly, but was making lazy loops around the interior of the port, hovering near the ceiling while the hatch above remained closed. She'd known that that human, for all his boasting would never be able to understand the complexities of flying a shuttle in a matter of minutes. Those males were all alike. His own arrogance would be his undoing.

Gleeful, Opal upped the setting on her blaster and then took aim. A pair of blasts sank into the shuttle's engines, sending it plunging to the floor while Opal ducked back into the hallway for cover. After the attendant crash, she hurried back into the room, blaster held at the ready. Nothing moved, and with cautious steps she made her way towards the mangled shuttle, its front end crumpled, its engines smoking.

Blaster pointed forward, she approached the shuttle's cockpit, squeezing through the gap between the metal framework and the door. When she reached the interior, she shrieked.

The cockpit was empty.

**ooo**

"D'Arvit, Artemis! What took you so long?" Holly said as he dashed into the room, chest heaving.

"My... apologies... Holly," he panted in response as she used the omnitool he had slipped her to loosen the shackle around her left leg.

"Do you have an idea what sort of contortions I had to perform to get these things unlocked?" she asked as she finished with the last one.

"No, but please feel free to demonstrate once we've reached safety."

She rolled her eyes and hopped off the pallet. "Here," she said handing him back the omnitool. "That could have gone badly, you know – I almost swallowed it."

Before confronting Opal, he had replaced the omnitool in his mouth and slipped it to Holly when he had kissed her. That had been the real risk. He had wagered their future that she would figure out from there on what had to be done. And she had.

"I'm relieved. I'm afraid I hadn't time to come up with a plan B."

"What about the shuttle?"

He flashed a smile. "I told Opal herself what I intended to do. The autopilot. I simply programmed it to circle the room and allowed Opal to draw unwarranted conclusions about my piloting skills while I slipped past her in the confusion and returned here."

They had just reached the door on the far side of the room when they saw someone whom they'd expected to see there about as much as they'd expect to see a three-legged unicorn. Which was to say, not at all...

* * *

**A/N:** Yes, a plot snuck in there. Not sure how that happened. ;) Don't worry; it won't get dragged out very long. In fact I should have the last chapter posted before book seven hits shelves.


	15. Thirteen: Aftershock, part two

**Thirteen: Aftershock, part two**

"Easy work," Mulch Diggums grumbled to himself – for after all he had had no one else to talk to these past two weeks and he might as well keep himself company. "Easy work my bumflap."

It wasn't that the work was difficult – doing nothing at all rarely was – and the clay in these parts was certainly delicious, and the pay had been very nice, but he was beginning to exceed his own boredom threshold. "Just wait for them to leave the manor and then head in, find the omnitool, and get out," he mimed, doing his best impression of the LEP's foremost technology consultant. "Should be easy for a thief of your _calibre_, he says."

Mulch shook his head, and, plucking a beetle from his beard, popped it into his mouth. It would be simple indeed except that Foaly had forbidden him from entering Fowl manor until both Holly and Artemis were out and as far as he could tell they never left. Holly did go for a run every morning, but Artemis seemed to have an aversion to the outdoors such that Mulch never got more than a passing glimpse of him through a windowpane whenever he poked his head out of the earth. Foaly's scanners were supposed to alert him if they were both out, but so far no opportunity had presented itself.

What could they be doing in there all day anyway?

Mulch started up when the gadget Foaly had given him nearly two weeks ago began to beep, knocking his head on the roof of the small cave he'd dug out for himself. By Frond! They'd actually left the manor – both of them! Together!

Of course as brilliant as the centaur believed himself to be, Mulch was not about to trust one of his gadgets over his own senses. He unbuttoned his bum flap and prepared to do a little scouting for himself. He wasn't heading into that manor until he was certain that Artemis was no longer in it because when it came down to the option of having Foaly or Artemis mad at him, he would pick Foaly any day of the week.

He took his time, makings sure to circle around them to get a proper vantage point. After several starts and stops he finally turned his jaws upwards and chewed his way toward the surface, taking slow, even bites, careful to break through very gently. He poked his head aboveground and emerged in time to see a sight that set the hairs of his beard tingling.

Artemis and Holly were both apparently unconscious and being hauled away on a hover trolley by Opal Koboi. He wasn't up on all the fancy LEP terminology but he was fairly certain a scenario such as this qualified as very very bad, possibly even disastrous.

It did occur to him that he could simply alert Foaly to the situation and then sit back safe and sound underground and wait for the LEP to arrive... in a few hours.

"The things I do for the two of you," Mulch grumbled as he took a deep breath and dove back into the earth, tunnelling in the direction Opal was headed.

He managed to surface just behind her shuttle as she was closing the hatch. There wasn't much time. Grateful that it was overcast as he hadn't slathered on any sunblock this morning, he hurried towards the shuttle. All it took was a few drops of dwarf rock polish and he was in – just as the shuttle's engines were being fired up.

He managed to slither in through the small hole in the hull and stumble into the back compartment. Oblong cages made of wooden slats strung with strands of dried seaweed, crowded the room, stacked precariously. He was still trying to get his bearings when the craft gave a great shudder as it took to the air. That last rumble was all that was needed: the stacks of crates came tumbling down, knocking Mulch Diggums clear off his feet and clean out.

**ooo**

"Tell me you have a plan, Foaly." Butler's tone made it clear that it was less a request than a demand.

Foaly's fingers were flying over the keyboard, pulling up intel on several screens while also trying to get a signal from his man on the ground – or under the ground anyway. "I'm trying to contact Mulch."

"Why?" It sounded more like a snarl than a question proper.

"He was..." Foaly cleared his throat. "He's at Fowl manor. He might have seen something."

"And _why_ was he at Fowl manor?"

"Commander Kelp asked him to stop in and try to get that omnitool back from Artemis."

"Stop in?" Butler repeated and Foaly was suddenly quite glad that there were hundreds kilometres of the earth's crust between himself and the Mud Man at the moment.

"All right _break_ in."

But before Butler could make any reply, Mulch's com channel finally blared to life. "Foaly? Foaly, can you hear me?"

"Of course I can hear, Mulch," Foaly said with a horsey snort. "That microphone is so sensitive I can hear what you had for lunch."

"This is no time to be talking about lunch," he retorted. And that was when Foaly knew Mulch was serious.

"All right, what's going on?"

"I'm in Opal Koboi's shuttle," he said in a low tone.

"She's the one who grabbed Artemis and Holly, then?" Foaly asked. His mind was racing faster than his fingers could keep up. The commander had already gone home and would need to be called back. Anything that involved Opal Koboi was top priority for the LEP.

"Yup. Stunned them and loaded them onto a stealth shuttle. I manage to stow away on it. I hope you know I'm expecting danger pay for all this."

"I can trace your signal from here. You're not far. Scotland. We'll have a team en route in no time. Where's Koboi right now?"

"Don't know."

Foaly snorted into the mic – not a pleasant sound, to be certain. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

"Don't throw a horseshow, pony boy. I just woke up."

"This is no time to be napping," Foaly snapped.

"I'll have you know I got knocked out during takeoff."

"You–" Foaly whinnied and stamped a hoof. "Of all the– Just... go out and try to figure out what's happened to Holly." And then, as he recalled that Butler was still listening in, "And Artemis."

"Fine, fine. Sending a civilian to do the LEP's job. You really should be ashamed of yourself, you know."

Foaly heaved a sigh. He was going to need an energy drink. Probably several of them before the night was done. "All right, Diggums. Danger pay. Standard LEP rate."

"I'm going above and beyond. And you know, if I go out there it might be the last time you ever hear from me."

"If only," Foaly groaned.

"After all these years? I'm hurt. Really."

Foaly rolled his eyes at the melodrama. "Fine. Danger pay and overtime."

And then with the sound of escaping dwarf gas, Mulch was gone.

"Nice plan," Butler said dryly.

Foaly sighed once more. "I'll get the Commander on the line." It was going to be a long night. A very long night.

**ooo**

Mulch pressed himself against the inside of the shuttle's hatch, beard hair fanning out against its surface, sweeping for vibrations. There was nothing.

Assured that there were no guards on the other side of the hatch – or worse yet, Opal Koboi herself – Mulch let himself out into the shuttle port. He cast a quick glance around the room, all too aware of his vulnerable position. There was something very familiar about the place, about the layout of the shuttle port with its sleek, metal walls. Two doors, one at either end. No security cameras, that he could see. In fact there didn't seem to be much security at all.

His growing confidence took a serious blow when the hatches above slid open and he heard the purr of a shuttle's engines growing closer.

Even as he ran, he patted his belly and screwed up his face, searching his intestines for the bubbles of gas left over from his last meal of clay. "Come on," he encouraged his reluctant innards. Relief – among other things – surged through him as he felt the familiar gurgle. The gas shot out of him, propelling him forward across the room just as the shadow of the shuttle fell over the landing pad. He reached the far door as the shuttle was landing and didn't wait to find out who was in it. The tingling of his beard hairs gave him enough of a hunch.

The far door opened into a corridor – an amazingly nondescript corridor. Its walls consisted sleek sheets of dark metal with two pairs of doors situated on each side at equal intervals along its length. He recognized the make immediately from the days, over a century past, when he and his cousin Nord had been working their contractor scheme in order to get their hands on building plans. This was a build-as you-go portable unit. They were used for temporary facilities most of the time, especially for companies working on smaller budgets. The normal layout was roughly triangular: a shuttleports and two main rooms joined by three corridors lined with smaller service rooms.

A few bubbles of gas escaped him as he raced through the corridor, but he gritted his tombstone teeth and made sure to store up what was left for use in an emergency – a worse emergency.

As he came to the far door and jabbed the open button, his suspicions were confirmed. The room he arrived at was rectangular with a door on the far side, and the same dimensions he was familiar with from the portable units. It was all very standard. What was not standard, however, was the contents of the room.

Mulch's stomach began to rumble as he stared at two huge aquariums, one on each side of the room. A number of turtles swam through the murky water of one, while the other was populated by dozens of lobsters, scuttling around the bottom of the tank. Visions of crustacean feasts flashed before his mind's eye before his sense of self-preservation took over again as he sensed the vibrations of footsteps in the corridor behind him. Precariously close behind him.

"_What_ is that stench?" He caught the words as he stepped into the room and the door slid closed. It was a woman's voice, an all-too-familiar one at that.

After millennia spent in tunnels and wriggling out of cave-ins, dwarves had adapted to be able to squeeze their bulk through small nooks and crannies, so Mulch had little difficulty wiggling himself into the narrow space between the tank of lobsters and the back wall before the laboratory door slid open again.

Peeking through the glass and water of the aquarium, Mulch was still able to recognise the wavering image: a tiny figure with jet black hair. It was Opal Koboi.

She sniffed the air and grimaced. "What in Frond's name has she been up to?" Opal muttered as she moved towards one of the consoles, her fingers flying over the touch pad. Even from his hiding place, Mulch could tell that she did not like what she saw.

With a grace born of centuries of thievery, Mulch slowly slid along behind the glass tank towards the other side of the room while the lobsters continued to scuttle about, nicely covering the distorted image created by his movements. Not that Opal was looking at the tanks, mind you. Her attention was entirely focussed on the screen before. The image through the water turned her scowl monstrous as if he were facing a miniature troll.

He stiffened, nerves a little frayed by all the excitement, when a loud bang reverberated through the room. But it was only sound of Opal's tiny fist. "How dare she! I _ordered_ her to keep a low profile. That bumbling–" The rest of the sentence tapered off into a rather troll-worthy snarl.

Turning his eyes away from Opal, his attention fell on the captive crustaceans. Now he was not as crazed for sea food as pixies typically were – Doodah Day craved the stuff like a dwarf craved clay – but he'd been subsisting on minimal rations since he'd taken Foaly up on the Fowl manor job so a bit of meat had a certain appeal. Especially drenched with a buttery vinaigrette. And a pinch of silt for texture.

It took him a moment to realize that the low, loud rumbling that filled his ears was, in fact, the sound of his stomach.

Peering straight through the glass and water of the tank Opal looked more than ever like a tiny troll, the wavering image of her black hair turned into a strange likeness of a troll's matted dreadlocks. Mulch did what was natural when faced with such a creature. He ran.

Close as he was to the door, he managed to squirm out of his hiding place, jab the open button, and set off running, in a series of fluid motions, all before Opal could reach for a weapon or shoot magical bolts. She let out a shriek of eardrum-shattering ire as he raced out into the corridor, her voice echoing off the metallic walls like the whinny of an irate centaur.

Using the last bubbles of stored up gas to propel himself down the corridor, Mulch began to think that perhaps he should have pushed for _double_ overtime in addition to the danger pay. Holly was the one who enjoyed these seat-of-your-bum-flap adventures while he was just a solid, self-employed citizen now.

For a moment, when he saw the door at the far end of the corridor slide open he thought he'd run out of luck – like the eighth time Julius has caught up to him – but instead...

"Mulch?" said both Holly and Artemis in perfect unison.

"Don't think you want to be heading this way," Mulch said, hearing footfalls behind him.

"Nor this way," Artemis said, glancing over his shoulder.

"Come on," Mulch said turning back down the corridor. Quick thinking had saved him more than once when dwarf gas could not. He reached to slide open one of the side doors and they all three piled in before Opal had come into sight.

They were in a storage unit, packed in amidst empty wire cages stacked to the ceiling and several pieces of lab equipment. Well at least it wasn't one of the lavatories; that would have made things more complicated.

The portable units were made to be low cost and soundproofing was not a standard feature so the footfalls that came from either end of the corridor and stopped just metres away from their door were clearly discernable.

"You! How _dare_ you!" shrieked one very high pitch voice.

"You? What are you doing here?" demanded another nearly identical, if just slightly raspier voice, that of the Opal who'd turned herself into a Mud Person.

"What am _I_ doing here?" repeated the Opal from the past. "I set up this entire facility and I came to check in on your progress–"

"I don't need you checking–"

Yet Past Opal ignored her and went on with her tirade, "–only to find you've brought Fowl and Short here."

"I–"

"Secrecy, I told you! We mut act slowly and secretly if we're to regenerate your cellular structure."

"I deserve my revenge."

"_Your_ revenge? You've jeopardised our entire operation and your – _our_ – continued longevity!"

"I am your elder," present Opal retorted, her voice reaching a new octave. "I am the one in charge here."

"You've let them escape and the LEP is already on their way here. I should just let them throw you back in prison."

"You _are_ me."

"I refuse to believe that I could turn into such an utter ninny. That human pituitary glad has tainted you beyond repair."

What followed was the simultaneous sound of a blaster being fired and of an explosion in the form of Opal's patented magic bolts.

"I suggest we find a way out of here while they're occupied," hissed Artemis, who was pinned between Mulch and Holly.

"Scoot over, Mud Boy," Mulch grumbled, squeezing and wriggling until he could touch the deck plates. He reached into his beard once again for the bottle of dwarf rock polish and allowed one drop to corrode the tiles. Artemis and Holly both grimaced at the stench but Mulch smiled for already he could taste the scent fresh clay.

"Mulch," Holly said Before he could dive in. "Did Opal – the other Opal – get here by shuttle?"

"Your LEP buddies are on their way already."

"Did she or didn't she?" Holly snarled.

"She did but–"

"We are not leaving those two here with a working stealth shuttle. Can you tunnel us back to the shuttle port?"

"So let me get this straight," Mulch began, wincing as the walls rattled with the force of a magical explosion and the lights flickered for a moment. "You want us to break out of here and then break back in?"

"_Mulch_." That was the tone that led to nothing at all good.

"All right, all right," he relented. "You're the captain and all that."


	16. Fourteen: Aftermath

**Fourteen: Aftermath**

They emerged from the tunnel smudged with clay and stinking of dwarf gas, but otherwise unharmed. Holly had no trouble hot wiring the shuttle, but as the sound blasting and magical bolts continued to shudder through the facility, it was not until they were in the air that Holly truly felt relief.

Free. Somehow, against all odds, they had escaped once again.

She glanced down at the controls as they picked up another shuttle. A moment later a signal came through. "Unidentified shuttle, stand down by order of the LEP."

She wasted no time in making her reply; it had been a long day already and she did not much feel like being shot at by colleagues. "This is Captain Holly Short. Both Opal Kobois are still in the facility."

"We're aware of the situation, Captain. We have a team ready to head in. Remain on standby for the Commander."

"But–" And then the signal cut out. "D'Arvit!"

Mulch excused himself, muttering something about needing to use the lavatory and she and Artemis knew better than to ask. Artemis had somehow managed to squeeze himself into the copilot's seat and was watching her with great intensity and, she was certain, with no little smugness.

She suppressed a groan. He was going to make her say it. Typical. "So that was the omnitool you'd gotten your hands on?" she said without turning to look at him.

"Yes, essentially. I disassembled it and stripped it down to its most basic components with the notion of making it easier to conceal for just such an emergency. I did tell you I wasn't working on anything dangerous."

"This really isn't the time to try to wrangle an apology out of me." Shaking her head, she hit the auto-pilot and turned to look at him. "Artemis..." Yet in spite of her best efforts, a smile managed to creep onto her face. He did not need to say 'I told you so.' She could see it in the glimmer of those mismatched eyes of his. "You couldn't think of an easier way to pass it to me?"

He shrugged. "I needed my hands free to manipulate the extinguisher." A shadow seemed to flit over his features then. He looked her straight in the eye when he spoke again. "Did you believe me?"

"You mean did I think you would leave me there?"

"Did you?" he said, his features carefully schooled so that she could read nothing in them. But she didn't need to. She knew him so well. After all this time, she should.

"The thought crossed my mind for a second or two when you mentioned the gambit, but I figured you had to have a plan. Artemis Fowl always has a plan."

He nodded, air still neutral. "My plans have not always been to your benefit."

"You've always come back for me." She was gratified when a smile finally cracked through his facade.

"Unlike Opal I do not consider the people in my life to be playing pieces. Sacrifices are not acceptable." He shrugged then. "I'm not sure Opal would have believed it had she known the extent of our relationship. On the other hand, your Council members seems quite willing to believe me incapable of any real affection so why should Opal Koboi?" She reached out to squeeze his arm. "There is something to be said for the chess analogy, though I don't believe I have enough pieces to constitute an entire set."

"You'd be the king, of course," Holly said with a sniff.

"Naturally. The king represents the player, the mastermind who directs the others behind the lines of battle. Foaly would, of course, have to be a knight. And Butler would make a fine rook. I suppose that leaves Mulch as a bishop; I think the diagonal movement would be fitting."

"And me?"

"The queen," he said with a sly smile. "The most versatile piece on the board."

"Flattery does not make you smell any less of recycled dwarf clay, Artemis," she said pointedly. "No pawns?" she added then.

"No," Artemis replied. "Not any longer."

**ooo**

With a great groan of relief, Mulch emerged from the bathroom, yet he paused in the doorway, arrested by the little tableau before him. Artemis and Holly, eyes locked, speaking in low tones that, for some reason, sent a tingle through the hairs of his beard.

There was something different about the way they talked, the way they looked at each other. The way she looked at Artemis. Mulch had worked as Holly's partner long enough to know that that wasn't the way she looked at friends _or_ felons and Artemis was both; when she looked at Artemis, her eyes danced. Artemis meanwhile was smiling and Artemis Fowl did not smile freely, particularly in the middle of a crisis.

All at once, the lacy, black panties packed in Holly's travel bag came to mind.

A grin split Mulch's face, displaying his tombstone teeth to best effect as he marched towards the two and reached out to shake Artemis's hand. "Ah Artemis, I'm so proud of you," he said, startling the two so that they stared at him wide-eyed. "Finally a master thief – stealing Holly's heart and all that."

Holly's face turned a tint of burgundy, verging on purple entirely worthy of Julius while Artemis seemed suddenly preoccupied with picking at the clay that was drying on his ruined jacket.

Mulch drew back a moment to take in the sight of them. "So how do you two managed exactly? Must be a tight fit – if you get my drift," Mulch added with a snigger.

Holly's jaw dropped, but she remained dumbstruck with ire. Artemis glanced up at Mulch, one eyebrow raised, and said, very cooly, "If you need advice in that department, Mulch, I'd be happy to offer you a few pointers."

Mulch grimaced. "Keep your pointer to yourself, Mud Boy. And for your information, I happen to be very popular with the ladies," he said, drawing himself up. And then, wincing, "Excuse me. After that I'll be needing to use the toilet again."

**ooo**

Holly glowered after Mulch as he retreated into the bathroom once more. "If he hadn't just saved our lives I swear to Frond I would kill him."

"Did you expect to be able to keep it from him for much longer?"

"No but– and what was he doing here anyway?"

Artemis' brow creased. "Now that is a much more interesting question." He glanced over his shoulder toward the bathroom as a rather loud boom echoed from inside. "One I don't suppose we'll have answered for some time."

Holly's attention was arrested by her console as a yellow light began to blink on and off accompanied by a tinny beep. "That will be the Commander," she said with a sigh. "He'll want me back in Haven, I imagine."

Artemis smiled thinly. "We should do this again sometime."

"Getting captured and escaping? I think we do that quite enough already."

He quirked an eyebrow. "While I admit that Opal is the very definition of self-sabotage, that is not what I was referring to."

She tried to smile but the yellow light flashing in the corner of her eye made it difficult to think of anything but the immanent parting. "I don't know when I'll be able to get another surface visa, especially for such an extended period."

She found she couldn't meet his stare and instead turned to her console, finally activating the view screen. Trouble's imaged sprang into view. "Captain Short," he said. "Good to see you in one piece."

"Thank you, sir."

"I'll be anxious to see your report. But..."

"Sir?"

"Our team is in there now but there's no sign of Koboi – either of them."

Holly heaved a groan. "They got away? Again?"

Trouble scowled. "I'm afraid so." He looked tired, she thought, rumpled around the edges. It was happening more and more these days. She thought she even glimpsed a few glimmers of grey in his hair– but that could just have been the overhead lights down at police plaza. "You're cleared to land the shuttle at Tara. You can catch the shuttled back down along with the Retrieval team."

Biting her lip, Holly glanced over her shoulder in towards Artemis who watched the exchange, stony-faced. "Sir, are you cancelling the rest of my leave?"

Trouble shook his head. "No, I can wait a few more days for your report." And then, brow creased, "I figured after everything you'd want to get some rest at home."

_Home... _She glanced once more at Artemis and then, resolute, turned her attention back to her commander. "If that's the case, sir, would you mind if I finished my time off up here as planned?"

He opened his mouth as if to object but then snapped it shut. "All right. But I want your report as soon as you get back. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Commander."

He closed the channel without another word and Holly had a niggling suspicion that they would be having a chat when she returned to Haven. But that was then. She shot a glance in Artemis's direction only to find him looking very smug indeed. "Not a word," she said warningly... before leaning over to kiss him.

They were both too busy to notice as, behind them, the bathroom door opened – and then shut again just as quickly.

**ooo**

Guzzling an energy drink, Holly put the finishing touches on her report. Getting used to Haven's time again after two weeks on the surface being semi-diurnal was proving just as difficult as adjusting to surface time had been. Shuttle lag they called it.

And then there was the nagging sense of something missing – as when you knew you were forgetting something but couldn't quite pin down what. Except that she knew exactly what it was that was missing... who it was.

She eyed the corner of her desk warily; it was piled high with e-forms that had to be filled out and cases that needed to be reviewed. And once it was all done, once she'd finished her hours of catch-up work, she would make her way through the crowded streets of Haven City back to her flat. Her empty flat. If she was lucky there would be an email waiting for her from Artemis; it would be too early on the surface to call him and she didn't think she had enough stamina today to wait up.

She straightened as a voice came through her com line. "Captain Short, could I see you for a moment?"

"I'll be right there, sir."

When she reached his office, Trouble looked as worn out as she felt and without shuttle lag to blame for it. "I'm just finishing up my report on the Koboi incident, sir."

"Take a seat, Captain," he said, closing the door behind her. "I think it's time we have a little talk." She knew from his tone what was coming. Holly sat very straight in her chair and waited for it. "I've had a few chats with Foaly lately, about Fowl and what he's been up to. And he's been... fidgety about it. Foaly, I mean, not Fowl."

"Sir?"

She'd known Trouble a long time, since before she'd even made Recon, and he looked genuinely uncomfortable – pained even – as he spoke. "Holly, look, I'm asking this as a friend, not just as your commander. Have you – That is, is Fowl..."

"Just come out with it, Commander."

He took a breath. "Are you sleeping with him, Holly? With Fowl?"

"Yes."

The colour drained from his features, leaving his normally coffee-brown skin looking greyish and not quite healthy. "If he has some hold over you... If he–"

"No!" Holly said, leaping to her feet, hands balled into fists. "Gods! After everything Artemis has done for the People, how can you even think that?"

"Calm down, Captain." She sat; she knew an order when she heard one. But her arms remained crossed and she sat stiffly in her chair. "So your... involvement with him is entirely voluntary?"

"It is." And she stared him down, daring him to object.

Trouble groaned. "Why are you doing this to me, Holly? If the Council gets wind of this... You're already on the Internal Affairs black list five times over."

"Are you going to tell them?"

"Not unless I have to. My officers' personal lives are none of my business." He shook his head. "Frond! I hope you know what you're doing."

"Is it that hard to believe I might actually care about him?"

"But, Holly, he's human... They don't live very long."

Her breath caught for a moment but she forced away the familiar pang. "Do you really think I don't know that? That I don't think about it every time I see him?"

Trouble sighed. "I hope you don't regret this in a century."

"Regret?" Holly shook her head. "Do you regret knowing Julius?"

Trouble's features crumpled into a frown. "Julius? What does he have to do with this?"

"Do you remember there was a betting pool in the office on how long before his heart popped?"

"But that was... that was just in fun," Trouble said, shifting in his seat.

"The smart money was on half a century, wasn't it? Do you remember what the highest guess was?" He said nothing. "I think it was seventy-two. Maybe seventy-three. My point is that... we knew we would lose him," she said softly. "It happened... earlier than we thought... but we all knew it would happen." She waited for Trouble to raise his eyes again to meet hers. "So do you regret it?"

"No," he said.

And they spoke of the matter no further.

* * *

**A/N:** I meant to have this up Friday night as usual, but then realized I had forgotten to make some edits to this chapter so I had to do them this morning. My apologies if there remain some choppy bits.

Also, things are wrapping up now. Just so no one is too surprised, next week is the final chapter.


	17. Fifteen: Ever After

**Fifteen: Ever After**

_[Artemis Fowl] kept the existence of the People quiet only so that he could continue to exploit them over the years, which he did on several occasions. His one mistake was leaving Captain Short alive. Holly became the LEP's foremost expert in the Artemis Fowl cases, and was invaluable in the fight against the People's most feared enemy. This fight was to continue across several decades._

Excerpt from, _The Artemis Fowl Files_ by J. Argon, .

**ooo**

_How very convenient it is for Dr. Argon to publish these reports all these decades later when neither of the two in question is able to respond to them. Especially with regard to the allegations relating to the later years of their acquaintance. Dr. Argon paints a picture of a relationship based solely on manipulation and monstrous self-interest, one entered into by Holly Short at the behest of the Fairy Council in an attempt to control the threat of Artemis Fowl. I assure you that this depiction is entirely false and grossly misleading._

_Not only have I had the opportunity to read the so-called Artemis Fowl Diaries, but I had access to the unedited recordings made by Artemis himself over the course of the years. But above all else, I knew them, I considered them friends and I can tell you with great certainty that it was, in fact, a relationship that evolved over time to be based on mutual betterment and respect, genuine affection, and, above all, on love._

Excerpt from _Fowl and Fair: The Truth About Artemis Fowl and Holly Short_, by No1, Warlock.

**ooo**

Artemis embraced Holly tightly beneath the bows of the willow tree, thankful beyond words to have her in his arms again after so many weeks of separation. More than twelve weeks – eighty-four and a half days to be precise.

"Artemis." Her voice was little more than a whisper against his ear.

He took deep breaths of the cool, night air, inhaling the scent of her skin, of her hair. How he had missed these things! Drawing back, he spent a minute looking into her face, into those mismatched eyes, the twin of his own, before pressing his lips to hers.

Her arms wrapped themselves around his neck, eager for his embrace. Her tiny frame pressed closed against him until he could feel the thrum of her racing heartbeat even above the mechanical hum of her suit's wings, which kept her hovering at his level.

When they broke apart they were almost dizzy for want of air, but still they clung to each other. "I am very glad to see you," he said.

A smile curved her lips. "I can see that." She rested her forehead against his and closed her eyes for a moment, letting out a long sigh. "I thought Internal Affairs would never finish their investigation."

"Is that the only thing that's kept you away?"

"Hmm?"

"I've had the impression from your messages that Commander Kelp was more reluctant to let you off the leash, so to speak, now that he's aware of what exactly it is you do when you come to 'check up on me.'"

She laughed. "Trouble wasn't exactly thrilled, but he won't interfere either. Just as long as you don't cause the People any problems."

"I'm pleased to hear that, as I'll brook no interference with our relationship." There was a dangerous glint in his eyes as he spoke.

Holly must have seen it for she sighed and shook her head. "Can we trade idle threats another time? I can't stay very long."

She leaned close to kiss him again, but he put a finger to her lips. "Holly, one day I will ask you to stay, but I will not do so until I know your answer can – and only will – be 'yes.'"

She reached out to let her fingers trail down his face. "It may be a while."

"I _am_ capable of patience."

"And what if the Council interferes, if they try to prevent me from seeing you?"

"If they do so, I shall have to kidnap you again. And this time I will not give you up for a metric ton of gold, nor for all the gold in the LEP ransom fund, nor for all the gold in Haven."

He could feel the tension drain out of her slender form at his words. A sly smile crept onto her face. "You don't know what you're dealing with, human."

"I beg to differ."

She snagged him by the tie, drawing him to her. "Oh you'll be begging all right."

"Mmm," was about all the response he could manage then as she pressed her lips to his.

Content for a rare moment in his life, Artemis leaned back against the gnarled bark of the willow. His arms wound tightly around Holly, wrapping her in an embrace just as the willow's drooping branches enclosed them in a shadowy bower. After everything they had been through, it was enough to know that she was his. After everything... After all.

**THE END**

**

* * *

**

**A/N:**

1) The first section by J. Argon is a direct quote from the end of book one. I hope Colfer never contradicts himself since it says that the Artemis Fowl cases continued for "decades." Decades sounds good to me. I like the idea of their having decades together.

2) I'm not sure how this ending will go over with most readers. The story was meant to explore Artemis and Holly's relationship, how they would go about having one, not to encompass their entire lives. There are a lot of questions I don't have the answer to in this story: Can they have children? Will they ever find a way to be together on a more regular basis? How long will they live?

It seems to me that answers to these question would all be stories in and of themselves – quite long ones in fact. The idea that I want to leave off with is simply that I believe that, whatever happens, they will be together. They've become so much a part of each other in the course of six books that I can't imagine them the one without the other – nor do I wish to. I believe that whatever twists their lives take and whatever their end may be, they will be together.

3) Finally, thank you to everyone who's taken the time to review. It's much appreciated. And thank you to anyone who chooses to review in future. It's always nice to know people are still reading a fic that's already been posted for a while.


End file.
